Blood, Sweat, and Reeds
by gaybaconprincess
Summary: This is really another vent story. Everyone's tired of High School AUs, so why not a Marching Band one? A lot of intertwining plots and characters coming together, but MAINLY KydFlash. Besides, what's high school without the distinct smell of miscommunication and quiet pining? [MamFire/WykkydFlash/Kolinx/HerSee/JerX/Blacken]
1. Wally Screws Up

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. oF COURSE I'm gonna start a new story instead of updating the ones I already have going RIGHT? Truth be told, this story will just all around be easier for me to write, and I think it's fun too! Yeah, I know how old and worn out high school AUs are, which is why this is a Marching Band AU! I'm in Marching Band, and high school, so it will be easy for me to write this. And Marching Band is much more fun and interesting than high school itself. The entire story itself is Kyd Wykkyd/Kid Flash, but there will be a lot of other plots and intertwining stories later too. Other characters will come around when the plot does, so be aware! Just for a rundown, Kid Flash plays percussion, Kyd Wykkyd plays Trombone, Jericho and Kole play flute, Jinx is in the pit, Starfire and Angel are (non menacing) cheerleaders, Mammoth is on Tuba, Billy is Euphonium, SeeMore is saxophone, Herald is Trumpet, Bumblebee is French Horn, and Red-X (Jason Todd) is a football player. I hope you enjoy!]

Wally took a deep breath in, stabilizing himself from where he was hidden behind a bush on the outskirts of the park. He kept breathing in and out, trying to focus on other things than the fact that he was pretty sure when Elliot found him he was going to die. This was it, Wally could see it now. His gravestone would read 'Wally West, 2001-2017, put up with by his parents if only because he had charming looks'.

Wally peaked his head out of his hiding place, scanning his surroundings both for a distraction and for contentment in the knowledge that Elliot had yet to storm after him. The park itself was pretty nice. Green trees, a heat that the Band kids were all too familiar with, and the sight of mothers and children all huddling on the other side of the park to avoid the overall disappointment and meme-ery that was Marching Band culture.

Under the shade of one of the two verandahs in the park sat Billy, Mammoth, Grant, and Starfire. Mammoth had taken a seat at the table that was right next to the food everyone had brought, for obvious reasons. As of now, he was engaged in a very serious looking eating competition with Grant. Billy was cheering along Grant in his southern accent as Starfire cheered on her boyfriend in her own high pitched voice. Grant and Starfire weren't technically Band kids, but they were close enough. Grant was Slade's oldest son, and Slade funded the Band's everything, and he fit in pretty well with Mammoth and Billy anyway. Starfire was one of the few not-so-evil cheerleaders of the school, and it was way too much trouble to try tearing her away from Mammoth.

Wally chuckled and rolled his eyes as he turned toward the swings where Bumblebee and Jericho seemed to be in a heated debate with Herald. The duo was winning, as they normally did. Herald and Bumblebee were both sitting in the swings, though neither seemed to be moving, as Jericho sat cross legged between them, snickering every time Bumblebee said something and distractedly playing with a plot of flowers next to the swings. Herald seemed determined to prove himself right, though he also seemed to deflate whenever either of them shot something back at him.

Wally turned his head over toward the water playhouse set up near the edge of the park when he heard an excited scream. The park had originally set up the small area that would spurt up water from the ground at a high velocity for the younger kids during the summer, but it seemed Kole was making better use of it. She kept screaming and laughing as she ran through the water and soaked her bubblegum hair, turning and urging her softly smiling girlfriend to join her every time the water would die down. Jinx seemed to always give a hard no.

"Wallace West!" He heard a shrill voice yell from somewhere behind him, tearing him from his reminiscent people watching. He immediately cringed up into a ball, ready to be sent into the middle of the Earth by either God himself or the pure embarrassment of having to face Elliot ever again.

And then Wally remembered that Elliot's voice was not shrill, mean, and kind of babyish. Elliot's voice was soft, quiet, and kind of scratchy - Wally would know, having that stupid tone ingrained into his memory for so long.

Wally finally unfurled from his fetal position to see Angel's figure looming above him and blocking the sun like a bad omen, glaring tiredly at Wally as she always did.

"Wally, what are you doing behind a bush? I mean- the bathrooms aren't that far from-" and then it hit Angel exactly what he was doing.

The taller girl smiled devilishly, gasping and jumping up and down at what it seemed she'd finally figured out for herself.

"WALLY, ELLIOT'S SECRET ADMIRER NOTES WERE FROM-?!"

"SHUT UP!" Wally shrieked with a face beet red, trying not to blush more at the voice crack in the middle of his yell as he yanked Angel down to hide with him.

"Wally, that was you? I should've known-! The way you stare at him during gym-! And that one time when you landed on him in spin the bottle-!" Angel rambled in a whisper-yell, amazed at how much she'd looked over. Wally and Elliot were the school's known rivals in just about everything. That was what everyone thought. - Wally was just really, really bad at flirting. Every time he tried to compliment Elliot, it came out as an insult. Elliot was convinced Wally hated him for no reason because every time Elliot walked into a room, Wally bolted out.

"You can't tell Elliot it was me! He probably knows already, and God knows I worded it really, really bad. He probably hates me, and now he's going to hunt me down and kill me and-" Wally rambled like a nervous wreck, only interrupted by Angel slapping a hand over his mouth and smiling confidently.

"Don't worry, he probably loves them! He made me leave while he read them so I wouldn't be able to blab if the admirer wrote their name, but you couldn't have worded it that bad." Angel said with her ever present sunny smile.

"I can only hope." Wally groaned, slumping down in his place behind the bush.

"Well, you better hope those track legs still work, because Elliot seems to be tearing through everyone looking for you carrot top." See-More said nonchalantly as he approached the two, amusedly pointing over to where Elliot had interrupted Grant and Mammoth's eating competition to question them on Wally's whereabouts.

Mammoth said something that Wally couldn't hear as he pointed toward their bush, followed by Elliot's line of sight following all the way up until Elliot and Wally finally locked stares. Wally almost missed it with how he ducked down at a great speed, but Elliot almost seemed to be...excited? The pale boy gasped and bit his lip nervously, but that's all Wally could see before he hit the ground like a soldier in training.

And then Wally curled into a ball and put his hands to his face.

"What are you doing?" Angel asked flatly.

"I think he's praying." SeeMore answered before he went back to slurping his Coke.

Elliot finally made his way over to the strange group, easily making his way through See-More and Angel to kneel down to Wally's level. Elliot's heart felt stuck in his throat, and his breathing was shallow and nervous. Elliot bit his lip for a moment, thinking of what to say before he finally reached a hand out to get Wally's attention.

"...Wally-"

But Elliot never got so far, with the excited yell that broke through the entirety of the park and caused everyone to turn and look at a now disheveled Jason Todd being knocked to the ground with the force of Joseph's happy squealing and hug.

Joseph finally got off of his 'kind-of boyfriend' and smiled sheepishly at the crowd that had been staring at them.

Joseph's family weren't very approving of his love life, and so he and Jason were kept a secret among the family. The school and locals, however, knew very well about Joseph's jock boyfriend, considering the amount of PDA the two were prone to when they did get time together.

Elliot shook his head and smiled at the admittedly very cute couple before he turned around and glared at the now empty spot where Wally once was. It seemed the drummer had taken the distraction as an advantage and dashed to get away. Elliot just barely saw him running with all his might the opposite direction toward Jinx and Kole.

Elliot huffed angrily and ran after him, jumping over randomly set benches every now and then to catch up to the running star.

Elliot finally caught up to Wally, Wally backing up into a tree as Elliot approached him slowly.

"Elliot, look, I know you probably hate me and all but I promise whatever I did I didn't mean-" Wally said quickly before Elliot interrupted him with exasperation, gripping the note in his hand fiercely.

"Wally, I'm not angry, I just-" Elliot began, only to scream in surprise and agitation. It seemed he wasn't aware that he had been standing on top of the water playhouse, and the cold water rushed over him and completely soaked his clothes. When it was over with and there was still water sprinkling down from the air, Elliot froze in place as his eyeliner slid down his face and he saw how everyone stared at him and laughed. Not out of meanness, simply out of the fact that it was something Elliot didn't expect - but Elliot didn't know that.

Elliot looked down with his heart still in his throat, seeing the watered down ink run down the note he was carrying.

Wally,

I've always liked you - maybe even loved you, I think. I don't see how you see all those things in me. I'm clumsy and careless, and rude. But if you really do see something in me, I want you to know that I return your feelings with absolution. I've loved you for so long, and to know you feel the same way, amazes me. I love you too, and I want to be together. I'm no good with words, so I hope you'll accept this note. I hope you'll accept my heart.

Elliot swallowed thickly, curling into himself as he heard the sound of everyone laughing at what he assumed was him and he felt the small burning of tears pricking his eyes. Elliot thought Wally was different. He'd seen Wally stand up to bullies, and help kids when the teachers thought their questions were annoying or stupid. Elliot was elated and for once he felt hopeful and light when he read the note that Wally had given him.

But Wally wasn't different. He wasn't any different than every other jerk at their school. He was mean, and manipulative, and cruel. He'd used Elliot to make a practical joke in front of the only group of people whose opinions Elliot cared about.

Elliot's shoulders starting shaking with his uneasy breaths as he fought back the urge to cry, Wally slowly approaching him to see what was wrong.

"I HATE YOU!" Elliot screamed with angry tears pricking his eyes as he shoved Wally so hard he flew backward on the ground. Elliot threw the note into the water that was now pooling on the concrete ground, condemning it to rip itself apart.

Wally looked up just in time to see Elliot frantically sobbing into his sleeve and trying to wipe away his tears, just before he bolted as fast as he could out of the park and as far away from the redhead as possible.

The entire park was silent for the first time since the Band had gotten there. Everyone was either gaping angrily at Wally, staring mournfully after Elliot, or shaking their heads sympathetically at the entire story.

"...I fucked up." Wally said quietly to Angel and SeeMore, who were now standing behind him.

"Big time." Angel said after a pause.

[yOU THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE HAPPY. YOU FOOL, DO YOU NOT KNOW MY WRITING STYLE YET? In other news, the top AN was the longest one I've ever written, geez. This will get happier, I promise. But I mean, they're teenagers, where there are teenagers there is miscommunication and quiet pining. Read and Review please!]


	2. Donna's The Only One with Social Skills

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. Lunchroom shenanigans! Have fun.]

Kyd stared down at his lunch with disinterest, his mind somewhere much different than the sad excuse for a sandwich set in front of him. Elliot felt stuck in his own world, much too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice until the third time Jinx had said his name.

"Kyd, you okay? You've been really distant and...sad. I mean - sadder than usual." Jinx said worriedly as she set a pale hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine just...tired," Elliot said with a broken smile as he slowly pushed his tray toward Mammoth's growing mountain of lunch food. Jinx shook her head and looked back at Elliot with another extremely worried look, but didn't press. Jinx knew Elliot was more than tired - she knew what tired looked like - something was bothering Elliot really bad.

"You'd better not eat all of that, you're gonna puke during practice today." Jinx said flatly to Mammoth, who was still stuffing himself with soggy cafeteria sandwiches.

"I'll be fine." Mammoth said with his mouth full and a dismissive wave of his hand. Jinx rolled her eyes as the group went back to their very important conversation about the density of magma.

Elliot smiled and chuckled at his friends before he heard boisterous laughter from the table across the room from them, coming from a careless redhead who seemed to have completely forgotten about the incident Saturday, whereas Elliot was still heavy hearted about everything. He felt like he'd really gone through a real breakup, despite them never having been really possible.

How do you get over someone you never even dated?

Elliot sighed through his nose and fought to block out Wally's loud voice by focusing on every other yelling voice in the dimly lit eatery. When this didn't work, he pulled out his sketchbook from his backpack and started hunching over his drawing pad to sketch messily. It wasn't always ideal to doodle during lunch, especially at his table where food was flown across the room daily, but he felt like it was his only outlet now.

Elliot drew graceful lines of lead out all over the paper, not really paying attention to what he was drawing. When he did take a moment to really look, however, he wanted to really cry.

He'd drawn Wally West.

Before he could bang his head on the table and groan miserably, he noticed something else on his paper.

" _BILLY_!" Elliot shrieked before he punched the redneck in the arm painfully but playfully.

"Oh, real mature Strayer." Angel commented as she looked down and couldn't help but laugh on the comically drawn genital on Elliot's pristine drawing paper.

"Why. Why do you do this? Billy, I haven't had an innocent sketch book that's free of your dick drawings since SEVENTH GRADE." Elliot berated frantically as he looked down at the crude drawing with nothing but his normal dead inside personality inside of his eyes.

"Wait wait wait. Bro, fam, my dude, my best friend, bromie. I can fix this." Billy said with utmost seriousness as he leaned into Kyd's side with an arm slung around his shoulders.

Billy leaned over so that the entirety of the sketchbook was covered up by his body, and fully made sure Elliot couldn't see until he was finished. All the while Billy was snickering madly, which made Elliot even more displeased with the situation.

"PERFECT!" Billy exclaimed over the lunchroom noise as he handed Elliot back his drawing.

Billy had blacked in most of Wally's face. He had also drawn another comical dick in place of Wally's smiling face. There was dead quiet amongst all five teenagers sitting at the table before everyone just exploded in hysterical laughter, even Elliot.

Elliot hadn't laughed very hard since Saturday, and it felt nice.

He laughed even harder when Jinx actually had real tears and her eyes and managed to fall backward out of her seat.

Not too far from the loud table, Wally sat miserably staring at Elliot's blushing, beautiful face he made when he laughed. Wally smiled just a little bit, thankful that he hadn't fully broken Elliot.

"You know you _could_ just talk to him." Donna - er, Wondergirl, as the basketball team called her - said from where she was flatly staring at Wally and smirking as she knew exactly what was going on.

"It's...It's not...that easy." Wally said as he blushed messily and ducked his head down to glare at his food.

"You know you _could_ just forget about him completely." Robin said from next to Wondergirl, looking confused when she jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow and even more confused when Wally looked absolutely betrayed.

"What? All I'm saying is that we all have our places, Wally. It's true that those places are definitely forgotten and trashed during Band practice, but that's Band practice. Just look at the people he hangs around, look at him! He's no good, and you can do way better Kid." Robin said with a pointed look as he jabbed his fork into a bit of broccoli.

Wally stared at him sadly for a moment, wondering if he was right. The redhead turned once again to see this guy who was 'bad news' and 'no good' and 'not worth his time'.

Wally saw the boy he'd dreamt about religiously for the past few years, blushingly laughing hysterically as he ducked from a grape aimed at him from SeeMore. Wally smiled, no, Elliot was perfect. He was completely worth Wally's time, despite what Robin said.

"Wally, hear me out." Robin continued, pulling the dyslexic redhead's attention right back to him.

"Everyone has their places. You, me, and Wonder - we're the jock friends. I'm a football star, Donna's the ultimate slam-dunker, and you're a track legend. This is where we belong, outside of Band or archery or chess or whatever you wanna do on Saturday instead of hanging with your friends. See, Elliot's an art freak. It's all he's ever been since elementary. He has three close friends, and he treats his sketch pad like it's attached to his body. This is how things are. You are not a freak, you're a jock, Elliot's not a jock, he's a freak." Robin explained like he was reciting a text book, spitting the word 'freak' meanly.

Wally shook his head at Robin in disbelief.

"You're wrong. What about your brother? He doesn't fit anywhere!" Kid Flash yelled in defense before Robin spluttered for a moment.

"Jason fits somewhere! He's the bad boy of the school. He sneaks out of the house to go see his precious boyfriend all the time, he smokes in the boys' locker room, he gave Joey his Letterman and wears that dumb leather jacket all year!" Robin said angrily, mainly toward an imaginary Jason than toward Wally.

"But, he's a football star! You two compete for being MVP all the time!" Wally defended more.

"Jason Todd is many things, but he is not a football star. I'm leagues better than he is." Robin said darkly from his spot in the lunchroom.

"But he's leagues older than you." Wondergirl teased, enjoying the show being put on in front of her.

"He's not even- we're only two years apart!" Robin cried as he spluttered and tried desperately to regain his dignity as both Wally and Donna laughed.

Wally looked over to where Elliot was exiting the lunchroom while Robin was busy and smiled. Robin was right about a lot of things, but Elliot definitely wasn't one of them.

[This was fun to write. Billy SO would, just so you know. Read and Review please!]


	3. Uncle Allen

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. This one was fun to write, no bad emotions whatsoever. This time.]

The entire marching band stood in the wet heat of August, moaning and groaning about how hot and sweaty they were as they stood in their star formation of set seventeen. They were allowed to wear whatever clothes they wanted to band practice because of the heat, but that hardly made it any better. Most kids didn't own anything that was white, and others were so unbelievably self-conscious of their legs that they'd rather die in pants than release the heat by wearing shorts. Everyone was frozen in their attention pose, backs straight as rulers with their feet at forty-five-degree angles and their heads held just high enough to get their retinas abused by the burning sun. Everyone's clothes stunk and stuck to their body's, and every bone ached from being held in the same position for so long.

As of now, Mrs. Lance had left for the school office because the principal demanded to speak to her about something right at that moment. She'd told everyone that if they moved from attention she'd order them all to do thirty push ups. Albeit it wasn't much compared to the football players or the wrestling team's schedule, but these were band kids that would drop out of exhaustion after the first four. She'd promised it wouldn't take long and she would be back very soon.

It'd been a long while since then, and Mrs. Lance still wasn't back.

"I want to die." SeeMore said miserably, followed by Herald sympathetically nodding his head in agreement. SeeMore sighed and shook his head some, sweat flying off of his face.

"Would you two shut up? Mrs. Lance will be back any moment now, and when she sees you two talking she's gonna make us all run laps!" Bumblebee snapped in a whisper from her rigid position next to the two. Herald looked offended for a moment before he finally piped up.

"I didn't even _say_ anything!" Herald said just a tad bit louder than Bumblebee had.

"You didn't _have to_ , trust me, I get enough of your voice already." Bumblebee snapped back louder.

" _But I didn't even-_ " Herald yelled at full force, both Bumblebee and himself having broken from position to shout at each other.

"Alrighty, children!" A loud voice boomed over the football field. Herald was going to die now, and Bumblebee was going to kill him for getting them all in trouble.

And then loud, boisterous, and familiar laughter lit up the atmosphere and Coach Allen came barrelling down the stands to the field, his own smile causing everyone else to break into excitement.

The band loved Coach Allen - period. Everyone loved him, even if they said they didn't. Coach Allen was once the school's best track runner, and when he retired from professional track he came back to the school to teach chemistry and coach sports. He was even nicknamed 'The Flash', hence Wally's nickname, 'Kid Flash'. Wally and Barry Allen were about as close as any two family members could possibly be, and Barry constantly made an effort to support Wally in everything he did - including Band. He'd show up and bring all the kids snacks after games, he'd be at the very front of every single fundraiser, and he often came out into the heat when the Band practiced in order to cheer them on and prevent Mrs. Lance from driving any of the kids to holding their breath until they passed out.

"You should've seen your faces! You really thought I was Lancey!" Coach Allen bellowed before he fell back on the ground to hold his gut. When he did recover, he quickly coughed into his hand and approached the still bracing Herald and Bumblebee.

"Now, Miss Beecher, Mr. Duncan, what seems to be the fuss over here?" The redhead asked in his normal teacher way.

And then suddenly both Herald and Bumblebee were yelling over each other at Coach Allen and pointing frantically at the other to indicate their innocence, all with poor SeeMore stuck in between the two.

"Geez, geez - you kids need to chill out! Look, Mrs. Lance had to leave to go get something for the principal's, so she left me in charge of you guys." Barry explained to the kids.

"...Which means you can all fall out of attention…?" Barry explained, chuckling at the echo of relief that washed over all of the kids as they slouched, cracked their bones, and even just fell flat on the ground in some cases.

"Now, you kids know me, you kids know that I am not Mrs. Lance. So, if everyone promises to clean up afterward and to not let mother hawk know…!" Barry said to everyone slowly gesturing toward his truck where he had buckets and buckets of pre filled water balloons ready to throw in order to cool everyone off.

Almost immediately all the kids cheered and started sprinting over to the water balloons, Kid Flash squeezing his uncle tight in a hug in the process.

"This is ridiculous! I want Mrs. Lance back! We have a game tomorrow! We need to practice, we need to work on our other sets and-" Bumblebee frantically exclaimed, her arguments being interrupted oh so rudely by the feelings of Mal Duncan hitting her straight in the face with a filled water balloon.

The strong girl stood there for a moment, completely in shock with her hair now watered down and her skin much colder than before. Then she smirked evilly.

"Oh, you are so dead Duncan!" She yelled good naturedly as she ran past the students already soaking each other to grab a water balloon for herself.

Kole was simply terrorizing everyone else with her lithe movements as she ducked and swerved and drenched everyone else. Bumblebee could just barely hear Raven's surprised and panicked scream of defeat when she had eight water balloons throw at her at the exact same time.

"What, per say, are you doing, Mr. Leonard?" Coach Allen called up to the drum major podium to Punk Rocket.

"Oh, well, you see, Mr. Allen. I am the drum major. Therefore I get privileges." Punk Rocket called back down from his spot far away from the water fight, shaking a filled water bottle at Mr. Allen to show that he didn't need any water balloons.

Surprised by the sudden attack of freezing water on his body, the white haired boy squawked when he was hit with a water balloon from behind by none other than Jericho, who was laughing at Punk's previously gelled hair falling flat.

"ANARCHY!" The blonde screamed before Punk started yelling something and chasing after the woodwind.

Just beneath the bleachers, Jinx sleepily yawned and leaned on the side of a pole as she half watched the fight in front of her. She didn't want water, she wanted a nap. She wanted to get more than three hours of sleep for once in her life due to her terrible amount of internet usage. She yawned again, nodding off for just a moment before she was jerked more awake than she had been in days.

"BARAN FLINDERS!" Jinx screamed as her mascara and hair fell down her face, drenched in water. The small pink haired girl had already started chasing the maniacally laughing and bumbling Mammoth who had led her straight into a trap set with Billy, Kyd, SeeMore, AND Raven who were all standing at the ready, aiming two water balloons each at her. She let out one final scream before she went tumbling down with all the water.

"Oh, I am...defeated!" She yelled dramatically as she fell to her knees and posed.

"I will save you, troubled princess!" Kole yelled from who knows where before she came skidding to where Jinx was and picked her up enough to halfway hold her bridal style she was knelt on the ground.

"Begone, feral, betraying beasts!" She yelled in a middle age accent, causing everyone around her to erupt in laughter.

Coach Allen chuckled at all of the kids from his spot beneath the bleachers where he was keeping on eye on them to make sure no one managed to choke on balloon plastic.

"Hey. Thanks, this was fun, and I really needed this today." Wally said softly from next to him, Barry smiling warmly at his nephew.

Wally was right, this was fun. What was going to be less fun, was explaining to Mrs. Lance why her students were soaked to the bone in freezing water instead of bone tired from practicing.

[I love Uncle Allen so much. Read and Review please!]


	4. Football

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. This is short n sweet, and I want more people on board for Angel and Raven.]

The Marching Band all sat in their normal place in the stands, all squished together like sardines as they played their music and tried not to murder the next person that jabbed them in the back by accident.

Football games were one of the best things about Band to most of the kids. It was loud and roaring and fun, and it brought a sense of unity to the Band itself. A lot of kids were only ever able to get in front of other's when they were with someone else from the Band. The best part was the fact that there was a large majority of the football team who weren't very nice to most of the Band, and the Band got into the football game for free to watch their bullies butt heads and injure themselves on an open field for all to see.

Mostly everyone loved the football games.

"Kole, you take health. How long do I have to hold my breath to make myself go unconscious?" Raven asked to the flute to the front left of her.

"Raven." Joey nagged from her front right, glaring tiredly at the purple haired girl.

"I don't want to be here!" Raven said, yanking her hat off of her head to let her purple hair spill out and spike everywhere.

"I'm not allowed to wear my black lipstick, it's loud, it's obnoxious, I'm hot and tired, I don't like sweating, it's terrible being here! It's-" Raven complained on a never ending list, amusing Joey and worrying Kole before she noticed a formation of girls wearing skirts moving all of their equipment over to their side of the bleachers, almost directly in front of them. Above all of this, she mainly noticed a head of cloud white hair and perfectly tanned and warm skin leading and helping the girls set up.

"...I'm only slightly more okay with this." Raven grumbled to Joey's large smirk before he barked out a laugh.

Suddenly, Angel started scanning the crowd of Marching Band to look for her very favorite person in the world, her eyes and smile just lighting up when she spotted Raven. Angel waved excitedly to the short girl, Raven giving a small smile paired with a soft blush and an even softer wave in response.

Angel managed to climb her way up the steps and through the crowd of Band members toward Raven, who was laughing at how much trouble her beautiful girlfriend would go through just for her.

Raven still couldn't grasp the concept. Raven was the goth girl, the freak. She was mean and rude and she spat words venomously and she was an overall mess compared to Angel. Angel was popular and put together, her hair was never frizzy or out of place, and she was leagues more attractive than Raven would ever admit or hope to be.

"What are you doing, you're going to get in trouble with Mrs. Lance." Raven attempted to nag, though it only came out between giddy giggles at Angel's lopsided smile.

"Pfft, I'll be fine!" Angel insisted before there was a loud shrieking noise sounding from the speaker next to her, causing her to turn and look at Mrs. Dinah's glaring face as she gestured for Angel to leave her students to focus.

Angel smirked and like the mischievous imp she was, simply stepped back half a foot to the other side of tape that cut in between the band and the spectators. Mrs. Dinah glared for a moment, but eventually let it slide as she turned her back to the football game yet again.

"So, before I leave, I was hoping you could help me with something." Angel said sweetly as she bent over the tape to put an arm on Raven's shoulder - she was still technically on the spectator line.

"There's this little tradition thing the cheerleaders all do before every game where we take some lipstick and draw a smudge on our faces in the shape of a kiss mark for good luck. And I mean, I know you don't have any lipstick on but I figured having a girlfriend would like boost the luck or something and maybe I was wondering if you could just possibly maybe-" Angel rambled to be cut off by Raven grabbing one side of her face to turn it and press a longer than usual kiss to the side of her tan face.

Angel's face lit up with a honeydew glow as she laid a hand where Raven had kissed her, giggling madly and trying not to let her legs wobble.

"Angel! Game! Pyramid! Cheerleaders!" Angel heard Starfire yell from below where the cheerleaders were set up.

"Huh? OH! Oh- I'll be right there!" Angel said as she snapped from her daze.

Angel leant over the tape again to wrap her girlfriend in a hug that Raven happily returned.

"Good luck." Raven said softly.

"I don't need luck. Love ya babe." Angel said confidently as she pulled away and started sprinting toward the other cheerleaders, leaving a warmly smiling Raven in her wake.

Raven then looked down at Kole and Jericho, who were smiling smugly at Raven's now furiously blushing face.

"Oh at least I'm not dating The Fonz or the real life Living Dead Girl." She snapped at the two.

[I just,,,love them,,,, also: the next chapter will be Joey and Jason. Read and Review please!]


	5. Sneaking Out

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. Some Joey POV and of course - as with all of my stories at some point - Wilson angst! Because I love hurting my children!]

Jericho slept restlessly in his bed. Well, it wasn't really sleeping, it was just him tossing and turning and hating every single little thing he'd done during the day. Jericho was the baby of every group he was in, he was small and cute, and he cared about others almost always before himself, even if he was a bit sassy at times.

Jericho could really go without a moral compass right now.

Despite all the good he did during the day, every night when Jericho would go to sleep he would restlessly think about every bad thing he'd ever done.

What if Herald hated him now because earlier in Algebra Jericho had commented on how lame his jokes were? What if Kole secretly wasn't his friend at all, and was only there because she had no other friends? What if Jericho's parents found out that Jericho wasn't the boy they had always thought he was? What if they found out that Jericho got into trouble at school all the time, and that he stood for everything they were against, and that he didn't want to go to school to be some doctor or lawyer or surgeon, but an artist?

What if his parents found out about Jason?

 _Jason_. Joseph smiled with his eyes closed as he thought.

Jason was Jericho's one solace in the chaos. His safe space, his shelter. When Jericho was with Jason, up was down and the sky was emerald. Jericho would get so caught up in Jason's touch, in Jason's words, in Jason's smell, that it was impossible for him to remember all the bad thoughts bouncing around in his head. Jason was so complicated and complex and warm that it took all of Jericho's attention not to simply give in to Jason's constant urging to run away from his oppressive home and go to live with Jason.

Everyone called the couple cheesy - Jason constantly whispered sweet nothings to Jericho when they weren't preoccupied, he would wrap Jericho up in his jacket anytime they were near each other, Jason constantly showered Joey in unabashed affection that Joey hadn't known anywhere else - especially his family. Truth be told, Jason did all of that because Jason was the only person who knew the broken Jericho that lay underneath his kind hearted and diva esque surface. Jericho needed Jason, just how Jericho was Jason's one escape from his own looming shadow of a father.

Father. Joey blamed a lot on his father. There were times when the two would get along, Joey would come home from practice and rant about some random jerk to his father and Slade would agree with him and nod his head. But mostly, Joey despised his father - and it was Jericho's own fault for his hatred, he knew. Slade was an army man and had skipped out on most of Jericho's life. While Rose and Grant had already forgiven him, Jericho still had a hard time trying to spit out the word 'father' nonetheless 'dad'. Slade tried so hard to make it up to Joey, he funded the Band's everything, he showed up to every single outing, and he'd give Joey just about anything he ever asked for. But it wasn't enough, it never would be.

Slade could buy all the useless material things he wanted for Joey, but neither of them would get the past sixteen years of Joey's life living without a father figure back.

Joey was ripped from his thoughts by an incessant knocking on his window, and he broke out into all smiles as he rushed to the windowsill to see Jason throwing pebbles.

"You're the most cliche person I've ever met, Todd." Jericho said to the monochrome haired boy wearing the shades and smiling like sin.

"C'mon, there's that new band playing down at Central Theatre you've been wanting to see, I got us tickets." Jason called up to Jericho.

"Jason…" Joey said in a warning voice.

"Oh, c'mon, we'll be back way before your parents wake up. We can go to Benny's after?" Jason persuaded, waving a hand dismissively at the house.

Joseph took in a deep breath before he nodded his head enthusiastically.

By the time Jason had managed to sneak into the house via his usual window and made it up to Joseph's room, Joey was still rummaging through his dresser to actually find something to wear.

"Knock knock." Jason said to let Joey know he was in the room before he sat on the edge of Jericho's dark purple bed. Jason spent the next few moments analyzing what Joey's room looked like in his head. It was very...Jericho. The walls were dark purple and the carpet was black, and the walls were lined with large posters of rock legends. Joan Jett, Jimi Hendrix, Tom Morello, Jericho had them all. He also had a strange red lava lamp that Jason tapped with his finger. The entire room was so much more neat and orderly than Jason's, Jason kind of wished he was able to see it during the day.

Jericho cleared his throat to get Jason's attention, and the leather clad boy turned to see Joey. He had on a generic rock band T-shirt and some ripped black jeans with Jason's stolen Letterman, his hair still messy and his eyes still red from crying himself to sleep earlier. Jericho forced a smile that said 'I'm okay, I promise, please - don't worry'.

Jason sighed out of his nose as he tilted his shades down to look at Jericho knowingly, gesturing for him to come forward.

Jericho's face dropped from his fake smile as he fell into Jason's arms, holding Jason as tight as he possibly could in fear of him leaving as well. It didn't take long for the hiccups and the gentle sobbing to come, quickly followed by the feeling of Jason's hand climbing under his shirt to soothingly rub up and down his back.

"I don't care how many times I've gotta tell you, I don't care if I have to get it tattooed on my back. You're perfect, Joey. You haven't done anything wrong, everyone loves you, no one would ever dream of leaving you, I promise." Jason said softly, swaying himself and Joey left and right to calm down his breathing. When he did stop crying, Jason didn't dare move his hand or stop swaying them.

"I love you so much, and so does everyone else, I promise." Jason whispered softly before he pressed a wet kiss to Jericho's neck and nuzzled Jericho's cheek sweetly.

"Do you wanna stay here? I can stay with you until you fall asleep, we don't have to go out tonight." Jason said into Jericho's ear softly.

"No," Jericho said with a chuckle, "I don't want to sit in this disease anymore."

"Let's go have some fun."

[This was fun to write. I really like this, a lot. Also, the really cliche bad boy vibe that Jason gives off is purposeful. Read and Review!]


	6. Every House is Not a Home

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. mORE WILSON ANGST HAHA. I promise this is the last of it.]

Jericho loved Jason, loved him with all his heart. Jericho loved spending time with him, and just being with him. He loved being able to do whatever hell he wanted when he was with Jason.

Jericho didn't love coming home to his father acting like a condescending asshole.

Jericho attempted to sneak back into his house at around eleven-thirty, only for him to freeze when the lights of the living room were suddenly blinding him. When he finally regained sight, he saw his father sitting in the main chair, his mother behind him, and his sister and brother to the right and left of him - and every single one of them looked angry and disappointed. Rose and Grant were forced into siding with their parents, so their looks were forced, but it hurt all the same.

There was a dead silence in the room, making the considerable space between Jericho and his father slowly feel as if it were creeping closer and closer.

"Welcome home, Joseph." Slade said with venom in every word. Jericho rolled his eyes just lightly enough that his father wouldn't notice as he scoffed.

"Yeah, real warm welcome-"

"Why are you throwing your life away? Why are you doing this?" Slade yelled louder than was necessary, throwing his fist down on the coffee table next to his chair and causing both the contents and his son to jump.

There was more silence that filled the room. Joseph may have been terrified of his parents finding out just hours before, but he was too filled with rage and hatred to care. If they kicked him out he'd actually have a reason not to come back.

"Joseph, because of your mother and I your life is-"

"MY LIFE? MY LIFE?! I DON'T HAVE A LIFE BECAUSE OF YOU!" Joseph screamed at the top of his lungs, for the first time in his life actually making Slade Wilson jump.

"MY LIFE CONSISTS OF SNEAKING AROUND AND KEEPING SECRETS FROM THE VERY PEOPLE THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THERE FOR ME!" Jericho continued, letting hot angry tears roll down his face carelessly. Rose and Grant looked proud, Adeline was angry, and Slade was unreadable.

Jericho sobbed into his sleeve for a moment before he looked up again, still angry as ever as he continued lashing out on his ignorant parents.

"You've set up my life for me! Ever since you got home nothing has been okay! When it was just mom and Grant and Rose and me, we were all always happy. I didn't feel like I had to hide some of the most important parts about myself from my own mother! From my own father! I'm throwing away the life you're forcing me into, not mine! YOU ruined this family!" Joseph yelled more, causing Slade to jump again and look at his son with heartbreak.

"...What kind of things could you possibly be hiding Jericho? I'm your father, I know you." Slade said, attempting to regain some of his dignity.

Joseph was seething, every part of his body was on fire and he wanted to rip his father's throat out.

"You really wanna know what kind of things I could possibly be hiding, dad?" Jericho said in an eerily quiet voice, spitting the word 'dad'.

"YOU ARE THE REASON I WEAR SLEEVES EVERY DAMN DAY TO PRACTICE!" Jericho screamed at the top of his lungs as he practically ripped his jacket with the force he tore down his sleeve to wave a scarred arm in his father's face. A scarred arm with crude slices that lined him all the way down like a tiger, the most horrifying of all being the words carved into his skin that spelled out 'worthless'. This was the moment Adeline's face dropped. Her boy - her baby boy - wanted to die because she wasn't there to listen.

"Oh - and my oh so beloved Catholic mother - guess what? Jason is not my 'friend'. I am the very FAGGOT that YOU have IMPRINTED IN MY HEAD IS GOING TO ROT IN HELL FOR BEING WHO I AM! OH - and another thing! I'm not the stupid little teenager you tell yourself I am! Those beer bottles in the trash outside? THEY AREN'T DAD'S!" Jericho screamed with a sadistic smile.

"You don't even know. Do you even know how many times I've gone days without eating anything JUST TO GET YOUR ATTENTION? It doesn't work, of course!" Joseph shouted.

"And do you know...do you know who was here for me through all of this? The only person who told me I wasn't allowed to die yet? That I wasn't worthless, that all those times you said I couldn't do anything right was just you over reacting? JASON! JASON GODDAMN TODD! HE STUCK UP FOR YOU CREEPS WHILE YOU DO NOTHING BUT TEAR US APART!" Joseph screamed some more, god only knows how his voice wasn't gone out yet.

After almost fifteen minutes of the four Wilson's watching Jericho having fallen to his knees to sob in anguish into his sleeve, Slade finally unfroze and attempted to approach his fallen son, only for Jericho to angrily slap his father's hand away.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" Jericho screamed before his father clamped his hands around Jericho's fists, preventing the boy from physically lashing out as well. Jericho resorted to crying and whimpering openly, repeatedly sobbing the words 'you did this, I hate you'.

Adeline had broken down at this point. She walked over to the side of Jericho, tears ruining her makeup, as she held her arms out and whimpered. Slade finally let go of Jericho's hands as he fell into his mother's arms and sobbed pitifully with her.

"Oh, my baby. My baby boy." She kept whimpering as she rubbed his back soothingly.

It didn't take long for Grant and Rose to cry just a little bit as well, encircling Jericho in a family hug.

"How could you ever think I would hate you? You're not worthless, you're wonderful and kind and brilliant. And if you love boys then you love boys as much as you want sweetie." Adeline sobbed into her son's hair.

When everything had finally calmed down, Slade slowly approached the group. Rose and Grant defensively glared at their father for Joseph's sake, practically hissing at the man.

"...That Jason really defended me?"

"He kept telling me that you didn't know what you were saying when you said I was a disappointment, and that you just needed time to get used to being a father." Jericho answered hollowly.

"...He was right." Slade said after a moment of pause. The man knelt down to where everyone was crouched on the floor, putting both of his hands on his son's shoulders, not caring for the way Adeline nearly yanked her son away from his father.

"You listen to me, Joseph. You listen good. ...I could never, in my life, hate you. Nothing you could ever do would make me hate you. I love you, you're my son. You're my family, as much as you don't want to be. If you want to go out with Jason, then fine. Just...Just promise me I won't lose you again. Promise me you won't ever do this again." Slade said, gesturing toward Joseph's arm. Joseph nodded shallowly before Slade continued.

"You have so much to be proud of Joseph. You're brilliant, and an amazing artist. If that's what you want, then that's what you can be. I won't control your life anymore. And I won't force my way back into being your dad either. But no matter what, I love you. I love you for whoever you really are. Just please, talk to me. Let me in so that you don't ever have to feel like this again." Slade said, for the first time having a genuine tear bounding his eye, forcing the emotion back.

There was a long moment that felt like an eternity to Slade of Joseph just sitting there staring at him, holding the fate of Slade's mental well being in his hands.

Suddenly, Joseph broke free from his family hug and wrapped his arms around Slade's neck just like how he used to, hugging Slade as tight as he possibly could as tears fell down his cheeks at Slade's promise.

"I love you Dad." Joseph said quietly.

And that's when Slade broke down with everyone else. He sobbed as he embraced his son for the first time since he'd gotten home, and it felt nice to be loved again.

It felt nice to be a dad.

[Hope you enjoyed that. I just want Slade to be a dad, I want Jericho to be happy. Read and Review please!]


	7. A Different Kind of Family

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. This chapter is short and sweet, I just wanted something to close up the Wilson Angst portion of this story. Y'know, because I'm incapable of writing any story that doesn't involve that.]

Joseph dragged himself into the Band Hall at around seven thirty, his eyes baggy and his bones heavy. But despite all of this, Jericho was happier than he'd ever been in his life.

After the big family reunion he'd had last night, he was tired. He didn't get home from going out with Jason until eleven-thirty, and then the entire family stayed up until around two in the morning just to make sure everyone was alright and Joey wasn't secretly suicidal.

The Band Hall, as always - even the mornings, was loud and chaotic and buzzing with nervous energy from the kids. Bumblebee was already yelling about something, Raven looked like was torn between throwing a book at Billy or continuing her conversation with an Angel that she had snuck in, and Punk Rocket was blasting some very obnoxious music from his headphones. Kyd Wykkyd and Kid Flash both seemed very...upset? Upset and depressed for sure, but Jericho decided to shrug it off. Knowing Wally, he'd forget about what was bugging him by lunch, and Elliot was just always naturally really sad about everything.

Jericho scanned his surroundings some more. Everyone was yelling with either annoyance or excitement, the entire Band Hall was a complete mess, and there was such diverse variety of people that it was hard to believe they were all able to come together and function properly every afternoon and Friday night. Jericho smiled and sighed through his nose as he looked at the crowd. This was his family, this big crowded mess was very similar to his own family. They were strange, and dysfunctional, and loud, but they were still family.

And then Jericho spotted Jason, who was tapping his foot to some unheard music as he waited for Jericho's arrival from the bus. That's when Jericho broke down - again.

The sunny boy felt the all too familiar feeling of tears pricking his eyes as he fell back onto the door and slid down until he was able to bring his knees to his chest to cry. His curls got messy and disoriented as they pressed against the door to form a sort of halo of light around his babyish face.

Soon, the entirety of the Band had surrounded him, worriedly fretting over the baby of the Band, trying to figure out who they needed to harrass for making their Jericho cry.

"Sugar, what's-" Bumblebee began in her always motherly voice before Jason ran toward Jericho and nearly threw the indignant girl out of the way.

"Baby, babydoll, lovely-?" Jason said, trying for everything to get Jericho to look up at him as Jason rubbed Jericho's shoulders with his hands.

"...We don't have to hide." Jericho practically whispered into his knees before he started hysterically laughing along with his tears.

"My dad, Jason - he said we can be together. Really together. No more sneaking or hiding, no more running out, no more only seeing you during school hours!" Jericho explained when he finally looked up from his knees. When he was done with his speech he fell into Jason's arms just like last night and wrapped his arms around Jason's neck tightly, Jason easily returning the embrace.

"I...babydoll…" Jason wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. So instead he lifted Jericho into the air with him by the embrace they shared and spun the blonde around a few times, Jericho laughing and yelling all the way.

Jericho was happy, so, so happy. Happier than he'd been since his dad had come home.

From all the way on the other side of the room, watching the commotion, Kyd Wykkyd brokenly smiles at the happy couple. His smile fell when he found he was just too emotionally tired to fake a smile anymore. His gaze slowly crept around the room until it fell on Wally, and Kyd Wykkyd felt like he wanted to cry too.

[This was REALLY short, but I wanted some resolve with Jason and something to lead into the next chapter. The next few chapters WILL be KydFlash, don't worry. I know it's been about every relationship BUT their's lately. Read and Review please!]


	8. Tutoring

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. This is mainly West-Allen angst and Wykkyd coming to save the day.]

Wally West stared down at the impending and foreboding number grade that lay on his English test. He'd made a thirty seven. A number equal in letter to most of the grades he'd gotten in this class for the past month that school had started. The redhead swallowed thickly as he bore into the number, trying not to pale at thoughts running through his head at fifty miles per hour.

Wally West felt a thick black guilt clouding over his heart. He was Wally West, track star, drummer, redhead, but the one thing that people always remembered about Wally was the fact that his uncle was Coach Allen - The Flash. Every single little thing that Wally did reflected that idea. If he failed a class, everyone - mainly his parents - would look at him and go 'you're The Flash's descendant? How can you amount to anything when you can't even do this right? The Flash deserves better'.

Wally hated this living in a shadow, but he'd done it all his life and had gotten used to the concept for a while now. He didn't like it when people didn't even know that he actually enjoyed things like basketball and playing with his dogs, because all people remembered about him was that he was related to The Flash, and therefore had to be an exact copy. His parents nearly disowned him when he quit track.

Wally bore down at the paper and let one single tear roll slowly down his cheek, and he didn't do anything to stop it. This is what he always did, he let out one tear and then he forced himself to stop. Because The Flash's descendant can't cry, The Flash's prodigy can't be a baby. The Flash's nephew isn't allowed to show emotions no matter how much he wants to. Did his parents or the school care that he had deeply embedded anxiety attacks and issues? No, of course not.

Wally was ripped from his thoughts when he heard the bell ring for his next class, and he hurriedly stuffed all of his things into his backpack, including the hateful test that he purposefully crumpled up in the process of getting it in his bag.

Wally made his way out the door, not even noticing the mental crisis that Kyd Wykkyd was having from the back of the class.

Kyd Wykkyd usually helped Mr. Richards with grading test papers - there was a reason the boy had a 105 average in the class - and he knew full well how Wally was failing. Despite everything, despite how heartbroken Elliot still was over Wally, Elliot still cared for the boy more than anything. His heart still skipped when he turned around to find out Wally had been staring at him, he still got butterflies when they had to work in groups or partners and Wally wanted to work with him, and he still had a crush on the boy like no other - he had a crush bad.

So, despite everything, despite every voice in his head that was screaming 'No, no this is a bad idea, why should you help him, he's only going to make a bigger fool of you, he deserves to fail after what he did', Elliot ran after the redhead to catch up to him before Wally made it to his chemistry class.

Elliot finally made it to Wally, breathless - there was a reason Wally was the track runner, not him - and caught his wrist to get his attention. Elliot noticed that instead of looking up at Elliot's face, he was gazing down at how Elliot was holding onto his wrist longer than it took to get his attention. Elliot spluttered for a moment, yanking his hand back and scratching the back of his neck nervously. The pale boy coughed into his hand to get control of his emotions before he made his offer.

"Wally...Mr...ah, Mr. Richards usually lets me help him grade papers and...I know about how you've been failing and I was wondering- Wally?!" Elliot said startled as he saw a few more tears run down Wally's face, though he still looked strong and angry through them.

"Please, please I-I'll do anything you want just...Just please you can't tell my uncle yet! I can get my grades up, I promise! I-" Wally spluttered, trying desperately not to let his life fall apart this soon into the school year.

"Wally...Wally, have you talked to anyone about this? About how freaked you are about your uncle?" Elliot asked concerned as he laid a hand on Wally's slumped shoulder. Wally shook his head a shallow no as Elliot sighed.

"Look, I have to get to class but," Elliot began as he rummaged through his skinny jean's pocket. Elliot pulled out a torn strip of paper with a ten digit number written on it.

"I want you to call me after school. I can help you with your English, I'll tutor you." Elliot said in a serious voice. Wally hollowly nodded, disbelieving Elliot was willing to help him after how bad he'd messed up the week before. Wally slowly started walking toward his chemistry class again, but before he was out of Elliot's line of sight, the pale boy caught Wally by the shoulder.

"Wally, no one should have to feel like that - afraid to talk to their own family. I won't press and force you to open up to me, but if you need someone to talk to, I'm here." Elliot said softly before he patted Wally's shoulder and started making his way toward Algebra II.

Wally didn't care that he was probably going to be late - he watched Elliot all the way until he turned the corner as if he were watching his last sunset, memorizing the way Elliot's ponytail bobbed like a child's when he walked and how he ducked for cover anytime he came in contact with anyone remotely taller than him.

When he was finally gone, Wally looked down at the strip of paper he'd been given with new hope.

"...I got Elliot Knight's number." Wally said in a breathless, awe struck voice. Wally barely even heard when the tardy bell rang for his next class.

[KydFlash! Angst! And yet a happy ending! Read and Review please!]


	9. Sleepover

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. Look at my sons, pissing each other off while attempting to reconcile.]

Elliot looked up at the house set before him uneasily. It was big and nice and new, and Elliot wasn't used to any of those things. After Wally had called him Friday afternoon, they decided it would be easiest for Elliot to just spend the night with Wally on Saturday. Elliot agreed, if only because Wally begged him. Wally's parents would be out of town all weekend for a meeting in another city, and while they had left Wally enough food for the next two weeks, he hated being left by himself.

"Deep breaths, make eye contact, don't screw this up." Elliot said quietly to himself as he approached the door to the large house.

"Elliot, you're here! I mean - you actually came!" Wally said as he swung open the door before Elliot could even knock. Wally greeted Elliot by hugging him just a bit, barely noticing how Elliot went board stiff at the interaction.

"I...I said I would come, didn't I?" Elliot attempted joke, it coming out not as funny as he'd hoped.

"Oh, well, I mean- C'mon, c-come inside!" Wally stuttered as he ushered Elliot into the large home.

Elliot was set back yet again when he saw that the inside of the house was just as clean and big as the outside. Though, Elliot barely had any time at all to admire the pictures of a child Wally lining the walls because of the speed he was ushered into Wally's room.

Wally sat on his bed cross legged as he waited for Elliot to join him, everything Wally did was fast, wasn't it? Elliot set down his duffel bag of things as he decided to sit leaning on the headboard of Wally's messy bed and pull out a few books and his school binder.

Elliot looked up at Wally and had to force himself to look away because of the way Wally was gazing at him. Elliot knew Wally only looked at Elliot like that because he was ready to start actually passing his classes, but Elliot wanted to pretend for a while.

"So, what is it your having trouble with? I mean, I know that since we're going through three pieces right now it might be overwhelming." Elliot said as he laid out the three pieces of work that Mr. Richards had been helping them memorize and analyze. In between Wally and Elliot, Elliot laid out his copy of The Raven, Macbeth, and Frankenstein.

"Well...it's really just concentration and motivation. I've already got the first two, Raven and Macbeth - evil bird from hell thing warns the opium addict that his wife is somewhere bad, idiot prince loses his dad and ends up turning into the very first Eric Harris - but I just can't get past Frankenstein because of how long it is. I don't have anything to drive me and make me _want_ to do it, and I keep getting distracted by other things in class and stuff at home." Wally explained, not noticing how Elliot quietly smiled at Wally's very _Wally_ summarization of The Raven and Macbeth.

"Well, I could give you a synopsis if you'd like, and then I can help you start memorizing the key elements in the story that we'll be tested on next week?" Elliot offered, laughing when Wally let out an excited 'yes!' as if he'd had a eureka moment.

Elliot explained the entirety of Frankenstein to Wally, Wally cutting in and asking questions and getting genuinely interested in it. The tale of a man who couldn't be content with what he had, so he became the very monster he feared.

"So, the creature got extremely angry and went on a rampage, killing a little boy he passed on the road out of spite only to find out he was William, Victor's little brother." Elliot explained, making Wally understand the point when the creature passed over from creature to monster.

"But what if...what if the DeLacy's didn't hate the monster, and it was just a...misunderstanding?" Wally asked, trying to tie in the book to his own life.

"They didn't, trust me. No one loves a monster, a _freak_. Love is hard to come by." Elliot said sharply, sighing afterward.

"But...theoretically...let's say the old man did. What...What would he have to do to get the creature's trust back? What would he have to do to make the creature feel human, and to let the creature know that he _is_ loved, and to make the creature not look at itself like a _creature_?" Wally asked frantically, desperate for some kind of answer to fix his latest dilemma.

At this point, Elliot and Wally's gazes were locked tight, and Elliot felt like those blue, hopeful eyes were going to swallow him whole. Elliot swallowed thickly, the air feeling heavy and caught in his throat from the intense stare from Wally.

"Then he'd have to tell the truth. No more built up walls, no more inhibitions, no more care for what everyone else in his family thought." Elliot said with a light heart that quickly sunk. Elliot squinted his eyes shut in a glare as he slammed the book closed to hard that Wally jumped from the sudden noise.

"But the truth is that the old man dies and the creature commits suicide. The creature kills all of Victor's family in order to torture him and Victor hunts him down all the way to the North Pole. Victor dies from dehydration and weather conditions, and when the creature sees what he's become, the creature commits suicide in the frozen scape with no one around to say that they loved him and that he wasn't a monster." Elliot said in a strong voice, forcing himself back into reality. Elliot was a freak, and Wally wouldn't ever feel for him - it was as simple as that.

There was a silence that stretched around the room for a while before Wally broke it, determined to cheer Elliot up.

"Do you like cupcakes?"

The rest of the night ran pretty smoothly, and Wally had gotten down at least two thirds of the book. Despite Wally physically _wheezing_ when Elliot went to bed in fluffy pajama bottoms with Spiderman symbols on it and a black tank top that showed a lot of his back, the little sleepover was pretty easy. Wally was still determined to make Elliot see himself as something other than a creature, but for now things were okay. Elliot didn't hate him, Elliot was here with him and laughing at his stupid jokes and smiling whenever Wally looked at him.

[Read and Review please!]


	10. Welcome Home

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters in this story. This is fluffy. At first. Kinda. Yeah, I'm here to break your heart and ruin your day. Trigger warning for violence.]

The next day when Elliot was getting ready to go home, Wally took a leap. If he didn't take his chance now, Elliot might go back to thinking Wally was using him, and he'd never get a date with the boy. Wally took in a deep breath, readying himself and he rushed out the door after Elliot, who was already at the end of his driveway to begin his walk home.

"Elliot, wait!" Wally cried as he clapped a hand onto the boy's shoulder.

"I was wondering if you'd-"

Elliot turned around and looked at Wally with his innocently curious red eyes, his head tilting a bit like a puppy's and a small smile still on his face simply because Wally wanted to say something.

"...Let me walk you home!" Wally shouted in a panic. He had to refrain from clapping a hand on his forehead for how much of a wimp he was. He was just too weak for this kid.

"Oh...I...I don't think that'd be a good idea, Wally." Elliot said sadly and apprehensively. Wally's face fell, and Elliot couldn't help the way his heart ached.

"...You can walk me there, but you can't come inside, okay?" Elliot said in a stern voice, nearly imploding when Wally embraced the boy out of excitement that he'd said yes.

"So where do you live anyway?" Wally asked once the two were walking down a long dirt road that never seemed to end.

"Lavelle Odom."

"But that's half an hour away from here if you're walking! I mean, not that I mind - I love being around you- NOT THAT I LOVE YOU, WAIT-! I mean not that I don't love you-! WHAT I MEAN IS-!" Wally spluttered, his face a messy red and his shoulders squared as he attempted to spurt out a coherent sentence around his long time crush, who was giggling and smiling at Wally's display.

When Elliot did recover from his laughing fit, he spoke in the quiet tone Wally noticed he always got when he was talking about something he didn't want to talk about.

"I just didn't have a ride. It's not a big deal, I've walked for longer." Elliot commented. Wally wised up for that split second and decided to leave it be, opting instead to just think of everything and nothing to talk about.

The long dirt road they traveled along was never ending and it looked exactly the same the whole way there, but Wally didn't mind a bit. Wally thought he'd learned everything he really needed to know about Elliot last night, but with every new comment and discovery about the mysterious boy Wally just grew more and more interested in him. Wally wanted to know everything about Elliot, he wanted to know exactly why he held himself so low and why he hid from everyone that tried to approach him. Elliot himself was the same as the very books they'd studied last night, which happened to be some of Elliot's favorites. He really was the epitome of sublime.

When Wally was just talking to Elliot and getting him to open up, he felt like he were navigating a maze. With every answer Wally got, another door opened up, or a twist and turn revealed itself - every answer just opened Wally to another question. And then there were times where he'd hit painful dead ends and trap doors, the lies that Elliot held close to his heart so that Wally wasn't allowed to know everything just yet.

The road was quiet as well. Wally learned last night that Elliot really liked the quiet. He liked it much more than crowds. When he was in open, quiet spaces like this one, he felt free. He refused to explain further, but Elliot always felt like he was being watched in crowds, like there was always someone waiting for him to make the smallest mistake in the way he walked.

By the time Wally had snapped out of his reverie, the pair had passed through a poorly made path through an area of thick forest and had come to stop at a busted down house that could pass for an artifact of the great depression. The wooden house had several broken windows, there were weakened wood boards that hung pitifully off the house in desperate need of repair, and the entire house was so dirty and old that it was a black-ish purple color. The house was also considerably small. It was barely half the size of Wally's house, and the entire thing rotted like dead meat. It was also hidden under a large hill of forest that, if you didn't know where you were going, would seriously hurt you by dropping down out of nowhere. It was obviously a condemned, abandoned house that kids used for haunted house displays, that was Wally's deduction.

Wally looked over at Elliot with a smile, expecting Elliot to turn around and laugh at Wally for following him all the way into the middle of nowhere for a prank. But Elliot didn't laugh. Elliot didn't turn around, and he didn't smile. Elliot's face looked heavy and weak, as if entering the woods in the first place was a bad idea. It was like every leaf and tree and bush in the forest had slowly eaten away at Elliot's smile and attitude until this was all that was left. Elliot himself looked like the house did - broken and dirty. It was like when his smile left his face, his clothes and his eyes both darkened to a dirty color that had the look of it being there for decades.

"Goodbye Wally." Elliot said simply, and Wally could hear in the wavering of Elliot's voice that he was forcing himself to sound happy. Elliot wrapped his arms around Wally's neck in a hug that Wally returned, and Wally would've been ecstatic that Elliot had been the one to hug him first. Except this was a different kind of hug. This wasn't an 'I had a good time, we should do this again' hug. This hug felt desperate, and secretive, and pitiful - the kind of hug a frightened child would give you after a nightmare or after scraping their knee on the sidewalk.

"Take care." Elliot said with a forced smile as he slowly pried himself off of Wally, longing for the concept of not having to ever let go. Wally looked at Elliot worriedly, but he knew that if he questioned the boy Elliot wouldn't give him a straight answer.

"Yeah, okay." Wally said as he waved goodbye to Elliot with an ever present worried expression before he started walking his way back to his house and through the woods.

Wally had just made it up the hill, far enough that he could hide behind a tree and not be seen, when he was jerked out of his thoughts once again - this time by the sudden noise of a screen door being thrown open hard enough for the screws to come loose.

Wally hid behind a tree, watching what was going on out of worry that he couldn't just brush off.

A large man with matted dreadlocks and a stature that was frightening compared to Elliot stood in the middle of the doorway, screaming at Elliot. When the screen door had been thrown open with a loud 'whack!', Elliot immediately cast his gaze to the ground and hunched his shoulders to curl in on himself, holding his arms together and folded tightly. Suddenly, the empty bottle of what Wally assumed had been alcohol was thrown against the wall right next to Elliot's head with an even louder 'crash!', causing Elliot to start shaking with fear. The boy didn't dare move away from his spot, even though Wally saw that some of the glass from the bottle had lodged itself in Elliot's upper arm.

"Where the fuck have you been?! You were off with that stupid boy you were callin' yesterday, weren't you?!" The man screamed in Elliot's face, trapping Elliot with the way the man had rested one arm on the outside wall to get right in Elliot's personal bubble.

Wally flinched violently from where he was frozen on the hill and his entire body boiled with hatred and rage when Elliot was slapped painfully.

The man didn't look like he'd slapped Elliot hard, it looked like he'd tossed a ragdoll out of his way, but with how large he was compared to Elliot, it felt like he'd broken Elliot's jaw. The man slapped him across his face hard enough to send Elliot flying back off of the porch and onto the ground in a heap, not daring to lift his hand to cradle his cheek that was now swollen and red. The way Elliot had landed looked painful in itself, and Wally would be shocked if Elliot came back to school without at least a sprained arm.

The burly man let out a grumble as he angrily stomped his way down the porch steps, mumbling something like 'goddamn, stupid-'.

"Answer me ya queer!" The man bellowed at the fallen Elliot as he roughly yanked Elliot up above the ground by his ponytail, making Elliot let out a pained hiss and a tortured expression - still no crying, no whimpering, no calling for help. The man roughly shook Elliot around like a ragdoll by the grasp on his hair before he tossed him to the ground again.

"Worthless piece of shit!" The man bellowed as he sent his foot roughly kicking into Elliot's stomach, causing Elliot to curl in on the wound and spit up just the smallest sprinkling of blood.

Wally couldn't just watch this anymore, he bolted his way in between trees so that the large man wouldn't see him and made it to the porch of the house. Wally breathed through his rough adrenaline for a moment before he picked up one of the many empty beer bottles lining the entryway to the house and brought it down on the back of the large man's head - hard. The man crumpled to the ground in a heap as Wally bolted past him to make sure Elliot wasn't dead just yet. Elliot refused to look up as Wally worriedly brushed his hands through Elliot's hair and urged the boy to look at him. Elliot just lay there, sobbing brokenly into his knees that he'd pulled up to protect his stomach.

"You!" The man bellowed from behind him. Looks like it took more than one beer bottle to the head to defeat a modern day goliath.

Elliot looked up at Wally urgently, clawing onto Wally's arm so hard that it hurt as he yanked Wally down low enough that he could whisper to Wally without his father hearing.

"Go." He said with a waver in his voice and tears in his eyes. Wally could see that his teeth were stained red with blood, and he shook his head pleadingly at Elliot despite the clunking footsteps of a man that could and would kill him if he got close enough.

Elliot roughly used the very last of his strength to shove Wally hard enough to get him back a few feet, looking at Wally with the urgency of a beggar.

"Run." He mouthed.

It was the last thing Wally saw before it was all a blur of the dirt road in his teary eyes. Wally booked it as fast as he'd ever ran in his life, and he managed to turn the thirty minute walk into a fifteen minute sprint.

When Wally did finally get home, he threw open his doors and made a quick beeline to the homeline phone in the kitchen. Wally shakily dialed 911, his blurred and teary eyes making it hard to read the numbers as a thousand emotions stuttered through his heart per second. He'd never been this scared in his life, he'd never seen something like that in his life. Sure, Wally had problems, but nothing physical.

"911, what's your emergency?" The woman on the line said calmly. Except Wally barely heard it as he listened to a revelation run through his head. It was Elliot's voice as Wally recalled something they'd talked about last night.

Elliot's mom was dead. Elliot's uncles and aunts hated him. Elliot's grandparents disowned him. If Wally got Elliot's father arrested, Elliot would be condemned to foster care, and knowing Elliot's life at school, it wouldn't be a promising fate.

"Oh…" Wally sobbed into his hand breathlessly as let the phone hit the ground and he fell back on the kitchen wall and slid down until he was sitting on the ground.

"Oh Elliot…" Wally whispered, finally making sense of a lot of what was so mysterious about Elliot.

[I hope you cried. I hope you hurt as much as I did while writing this. Read and Review!]


	11. Reconcile

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters in this story. I wasn't going to update until Friday, but I felt really bad for leaving any readers on that last note. I may update more if I find the time in between school, but likely not.]

The next day at school, Wally was a wreck. It was a shock to everyone who came across him. Wally West was always put together, no matter what. He was the son of a track prodigy, so when people were having trouble in tests or just needed to look up to something, they turned to Wally. But not today.

Wally showed up to school the next morning with his red hair sticking up in places it normally didn't, dark bags under his eyes, and a frantic look in his pupils. Wally had been worried sick about Elliot, and he hated this feeling of helplessness. He was practically rabid Monday morning as he tore through the school body to find the pale boy. Wondergirl had to calm him down, convincing him to loosen his stiff shoulders and breathe for a while.

Wally finally found Elliot during lunch, when Elliot was sitting all by himself in a table off to the corner of the cafeteria. From the looks of it, he'd purposefully sat away from his friends to avoid questions on the brace that surrounded the arm he'd fallen on so painfully the day before.

Wally slowly approached Elliot as if he expected the boy to run away, putting down his lunch tray and sitting right beside him. Wally leaned down on the table, trying to get Elliot to look at him, to say something, to do anything to indicate that he was okay.

"Pretty shitty brace, huh? I fell down a hill near my house yesterday." Elliot said sharply and menacingly, obviously indicating that Wally was _not_ to talk about anything that'd happened the day before.

Wally was too zoned in on the excuse to listen to his tone. He fell down a hill - just like Elliot always did. When Elliot broke his leg in the eighth grade he'd fallen down a hill. When Elliot sprained his wrist last year he'd fallen down a hill. When Elliot ended up in the emergency room with a nearly broken neck he'd fallen down a hill.

Wally was still trying to grasp the fact that while normal boys were worrying about their colleges and which girl to ask to prom, Elliot had to live with the fact that every time his own father got angry it might be his last time to live.

"No." Wally whispered, mainly to himself. He wouldn't let this happen, not ever again. Wally West was no hero, that much was for certain, but he wouldn't just stand by as someone he loved got hurt over and over again. And Elliot, Elliot was definitely someone he loved.

Wally laid a gentle hand on top of Elliot's sprained one that was laying dismissively on the table. Wally's hand encompassed Elliot's, trying to tell Elliot everything he wanted to say with one gesture. Elliot was right when he explained the things it took to make a creature see itself as not a creature, and Wally was readily willing to do them. Wally didn't care about how as of now the entire lunchroom had their eyes boring into the back of Elliot and Wally's skull. He didn't care if his uncle of parents found out or what their reactions would be. Wally didn't care if Elliot didn't feel the same way, he just wanted Elliot to know how Wally felt about him.

Elliot looked up at Wally, surprised. Wally had never looked so serious in his life, and Elliot felt like he was drowning in a ocean of crystal eyes and the blissful, tingling feeling that was creeping up his arm from where Wally was holding his hand. Elliot was drowning, and he'd be willing to die if he meant he could feel like this forever. Elliot was completely breathless, and he was pretty sure that his brain was broken with the way he could hear his heart pounding in his head.

"No." Wally repeated, stronger and not letting Elliot rip his gaze away for a second.

"Don't push me out again. Please, let me help you, let me be there for you." Wally pleaded in a strong voice. His expression started to soften, his voice wavering.

"Please...I can't live with myself if I know that this happens and I- Elliot I know you think I'm crazy but I can't-" Wally rambled quickly, on the verge of tears. The descendant of The Flash didn't cry, but Wally sure as hell was crying now.

Elliot suddenly reached out and squeezed Wally in a hug around his neck, completely aware of all the people watching them and letting them watch.

"Don't cry, please don't cry. I'll...I'll tell you everything as long as you'll be willing to hear. I'll tell you how I really get hurt. No secrets, no lies, no mystery. Just. _..promise me_ that you won't get hurt trying to protect me." Elliot pleaded into Wally's ear so that none of the listening ears in the cafeteria could hear.

"I promise." Wally said after sniffling once.

The two pulled away, and they both seemed to be filled with renewed energy. Wally somehow looked twenty years younger, the bags under his eyes seemingly having disappeared, and Elliot looked much less burdened than before.

Wally suddenly felt all the lack of sleep catch up to him, nearly swaying right out of his seat before Elliot caught him.

"Wally, how long have you gone without sleep?" Elliot asked flatly.

Wally shrugged tiredly as Elliot rolled his eyes and sighed, disappointed in himself for letting Wally get this bad.

Wally mumbled something very tiredly, almost like a drunken person, that Elliot barely made out as 'help make it up to me'.

And then suddenly, Wally head was resting on Elliot's shoulder and he was nearly sound asleep, slumping against the boy. Elliot didn't go rigid, he didn't jerk, he didn't complain about the physical touch. Elliot simply finished his lunch for the first time in a week and let Wally sleep on his shoulder, every now and then leaning his head on Wally's.

Later, Wally would find dozens on dozens of photos taken from kids in the cafeteria of him and Elliot scattered across his social media.

[Cute! But as per every other chapter of this story - they're not technically together-together yet. Read and Review please!]


	12. The Announcement

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. More KydFlash! Happy KydFlash! And pining Wally!]

Wally rushed into the cool air of the Band Hall at nine o'clock, falling to his knees at the relief from the outside heat. The Band had been practicing for an upcoming big game for what felt like hours, but was only the entirety of first period.

The rest of the school's marching band came flooding through the doors not long after Wally, Elliot being one of the last ones inside since he volunteered to help Jinx carry the pit equipment inside. When Elliot did make it inside, he and Wally locked gazes for just a moment and smiled at each other in comfort before Elliot was dragged away by a frantic Billy.

This happened a lot now. Used to be, whenever Elliot would lock gazes with Wally, Elliot would either look away quickly or he'd glare until Wally went away. Now the two took comfort in just small smiles. Elliot usually always felt alienated and lost among the school body, even with the Band at times. Every time Wally flashed a small smile at Elliot, it ripped him from his negative thoughts and reminded him that if he needed, Wally would be there to listen to any problem that Elliot had. Wally would be there for him even if Wally's friends thought he was crazy.

And oh did they think Wally West had lost his mind. Elliot was a freak, he didn't fit in with Wally, they were too different, it didn't make any sense - at least according to Wally's friends they didn't. When his friends had gotten sick of Wally's constant babbling about nothing, Wally easily just got up and walked over to wherever Elliot was, knowing Elliot would be glad to listen to him babble. Elliot was willing to listen to everything and nothing that Wally had to say, and he was the only person in the school so far who was able to decipher his babbling and excited hand gestures.

Wally thought the few weeks after the incident with Elliot would be miserable and disastrous since they weren't technically dating despite the fact that Wally's feelings had grown stronger than they'd ever been before. They weren't the same feeling though, and it felt nice. Wally still went breathless when Elliot smiled at him, but instead of running away Wally now could smile back. Instead of stuttering, he could easily hold a conversation with Elliot for days if only the school bell wouldn't interrupt him. The weeks weren't miserable at all, despite the ache in his heart that happened whenever someone asked the two if they were dating and Elliot immediately jumped to a hard 'no'.

Wally found that he loved Elliot just as much as a best friend as he would a boyfriend, and it was nice.

And then suddenly, a buzzing filled the air and pressed down on Wally like an impending weight that was quickly ticking closer as Principal Kent's voice filled the air.

"Attention students, it seems that there is one announcement that I forgot to include this morning! The Senior-Junior prom will be held two weeks from now on Saturday night. The fee to enter is ten dollars, and there will be no refunds or sneaking into the prom. It will be held in the gym at six and will close at nine. Remember, we still need volunteers or chaperones for the prom to handle the ticket stand and drinks. That is all for today, please continue your classes." Came the eerily cheerful voice on the intercom.

Almost immediately, a frantic buzzing spread across the room and people were already making big fantastic plans for outrageous displays to ask their significant others to prom. Among all this excitement and noise, Wally was dying inside - more than any normal day at school that is.

Wally West _knew_ he had to ask Elliot, but the mere thought struck fear into his heart. Elliot and Wally weren't together-together yet, and while it did sound kind of dumb, Wally felt like if he asked Elliot in the wrong way that Elliot wouldn't want to be around him anymore. This was the ultimatum, Wally's way of finally asking Elliot to be his boyfriend, and he had to do it perfectly in every way, no room for error.

"Wally…?" Came the worried voice of Elliot as he started waving a hand in front of his friend's zoned out face.

Wally shook his head to throw away his nervous thoughts, chuckling nervously and waving his hand at Elliot as Elliot continued to worry.

"You were staring at me kind of weird, are you okay?" Elliot asked before Wally started sweating nervously and assuring him that everything was okay.

"Alright, if you say so. A new episode of that weird show you like came out today, you wanna stay and watch it during break?" Elliot asked with a smile, laughing as Wally excitedly started bouncing up and down.

Wally had started doing this a lot during break, it was fun. Because of the way the chairs are put up in the Band Hall, it's easy for Elliot and Wally to sneak under the legs of a large stack of chairs and form a sort of fort around themselves. It made so that no one could find them to bother them during break and they could easily watch videos on Elliot's phone without anyone seeing. Elliot naturally didn't like going out during break, and Wally liked the relief from being put on a pedestal by the school body.

"The 'weird show' is The Amazing Tales of Spider-Man, and it's not weird, it amazing. I'll stay, but only if we watch it on your phone this time, I'm too tired to go through my bag." Wally said agreeing.

"Alright. Hey, could you help me fix my hair tie? I think my hair got all messed up from the laps we ran today." Elliot said as he distastefully attempting to fiddle with his shiny black hair.

"Sure." Wally said with a smile, waiting for Elliot to duck his head down before he easily slipped off the purple hair tie from his hair.

And then Wally's heart was struck with a different worry about prom.

Elliot's hair came flowing down his face, framing his small expression. His long eyelashes fanned downward and he looked like an angel with a halo of shadow as his ebony hair. Wally felt his heart stop before it sunk with worry.

What if someone else asked Elliot before him? What if Elliot said yes? What if Elliot was stolen away?

"Thanks! We can watch that episode now." Elliot said as he snapped Wally from his daze, Wally having finished the hair tie in his thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah sure." Wally said distractedly, trying to forget his past troubles.

[Homecoming is starting up at my school. It's the worst. On the bright side, it gives me inspiration for these two. Read and Review!]


	13. A Bumpy Bus Ride

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. This is...not as short as I had planned.]

Wally tapped his foot at thirty miles per hour as he sat boredly in his seat, just barely listening to the lecture being given by Mr. Jones. The click-clacking of the clock hung precariously on the wall seemed to deafen everything around Wally, and he just really wanted to go home. He was tired, his brain felt melted, and today was one of the few days that the marching band didn't have ordered practice.

The shrill ring of the final bell of the day finally sounded throughout the halls of the high school, and poor Mr. Jones was nearly trampled with the force and speed the students of his Algebra II class ran out.

Wally rushed up ahead of the flow of students, nearly running over Elliot when he caught him around the corner. Wally smiled brightly at the only slightly shorter Elliot, throwing an arm around his shoulders lightly.

"Hey, uh Wally? Would you mind maybe riding home with me on the bus today? You don't have to if you have plans, it's just that today I'm going to spend the night at my aunt's and...I'm…" Elliot explained nervously, twisting the arm of his bag in his hands before he leaned over to whisper to Wally.

"I'm scared about my dad. He might show up and try to make a scene." Elliot said to Wally before he drew back.

"I know you can't do much, but you being there makes me feel more confident, stronger. You can get off the bus with me and then my aunt and I can drive you home. That's if you want to come, that is. I understand if you can't." Elliot finished, still looking down at the ground in either shame or dejection - Wally couldn't tell.

"I'd love to. Just try not to fall all over me on the bus." Wally said with a flirty wink. Elliot laughed some before jokingly punching him in the arm and leading him off toward his bus.

They'd started doing this a lot lately. Wally would flirt out in the open toward Elliot, and Elliot always just laughed and brushed it off. Wally couldn't really be interested in Elliot, and the flirting was obviously just to joke with Elliot - or that's what Elliot thought, at least.

Wally climbed in the rickety bus after Elliot, thrown back at the inside. He was normally picked up by his mother after school, and when he did rarely ride the bus it was shiny and clean because of the road he lived on. All the children that sat in the front few rows of the bus looked up at Elliot and smiled brightly as soon as he got on.

"I like your eyeliner Elliot!" said a little girl with a whisper voice as if she were sharing a secret with the small boy.

"And I just love yours Dixie!" Elliot replied in a similar whisper voice as Wally just couldn't help but smile with a melted heart.

Elliot and Wally continued down the walkway of the bus, Elliot nearly breaking a jerk off baseball player's leg when he refused to move it out of Elliot's path. Elliot plopped down into the very back seat of the bus, the one that only held one person. Wally sat in the seat directly in front of Elliot, swinging his feet so they were longways and blocked the aisle of the bus, allowing him to turn and talk to Elliot all he wanted.

"So, what's the bus life like?" Wally asked calmly as kids entering finally started to dwindle down until the bus was full.

"Boring mostly. I usually just listen to music and sleep." Elliot said as he scrolled through his phone.

"Excuse me, Elliot. But Mr. O'Jeneus is being especially troublesome today, and I'd like for him to sit back here where he can't terrorize any of the other students today." The old man who'd been driving the bus said, interrupting the two boys and dragging a whiny Gizmo behind him.

"Oh, um, sure." Elliot answered awkwardly, just barely finding time to stuff his phone in his hoodie before the bus driver saw it. Elliot easily took his backpack and slid into the seat next to where he was previously, leaving a big open space for another person.

"Excuse me, would it be alright if I sat with Elliot? Girls can't sit with boys and all that." Wally said, gesturing toward the girl who was attempting to make her way toward Wally's seat.

After about fifteen minutes, the bus and the now sitting together Wally and Elliot were on the open road of the city, coming to some of the first stops on the bus.

Wally felt awkward.

Very, very awkward.

Elliot had put his headphones on, letting Wally borrow one for the bus ride, but was overall just ignoring Wally. Though, Wally never pegged Elliot for an Eminem fan. Wally looked down at how their hands were only centimeters from each other. Wally swallowed thickly, slowly inching his pinky toward Elliot's-

Only for them both to be thrown in the air before falling back down again.

The road that the bus was going down was rocky and bumpy, and because of where the two were sat, they were both thrown like ragdolls for half a second. Wally got smart enough to brace himself using the seat in front of him.

"Ugh, sorry. Forgot to mention the road does this someti-AGH!"

"...hi."

An especially steep dip in the road had thrown Elliot right into Wally's lap, causing both the boys to blush a bright red. Elliot was more or less laying bridal style in Wally's lap, and the two were just close enough to feel the other's shallow breaths on their lips.

"SORRY!" Elliot yelled as he jerked himself back to his seat rapidly, leaving a small smile on Wally's face yet again.

"It's no problem, really." Wally answered, getting a relieved sigh from Elliot in return.

"So...who are you asking to prom?" Elliot asked out of nowhere. Wally tried not to choke on air as he spluttered for a logical answer. He couldn't just get in Elliot's face and scream that he wanted to take him, no matter how much Wally wanted to.

"I...might not go." Wally answered rigidly, begging Elliot not to inquire further.

"Oh? I thought you loved dances and parties and stuff?"

"Well, it's not so fun with no one to go with."

"...Okay." Elliot said finally, ending the conversation before he rummaged through his back nonchalantly.

Wally let out a sigh of relief, only for it to be rudely interrupted by Elliot punching him in the arm to get his attention - he punched harder than usual.

"OW! Geez - what did I do?" Wally asked defensively before he really saw Elliot. Elliot looked like he was going to be sick from nervousness, and he was hiding his face from Wally.

"Ellie? What's wrong?"

Wally got a very quiet mumble in response, Elliot ducking his head further from sight and resisting the urge to yank his hood down over his face.

"Ell-"

"Please go to prom with my as my boyfriend!" Elliot yelled quickly as he hid from sight and held out a beautiful red rose he'd been keeping with him for the past week - determined every day to ask Elliot to prom and failing to correctly do so until then.

Wally was speechless. He never expected _Elliot_ to ask _him_ , and he surely didn't expect him to include 'be my boyfriend' in the rubric of asking him.

"Look, I know it's not much, but it's all I could afford! I wanted to do something big and fantastic but-"

"I love it."

Elliot whipped up at Wally, who was carefully tracing every petal of the flower with the edge of his finger.

"What?"

"I love it." Wally repeated, only to break into a huge smile and embrace Elliot in a tighter than normal hug.

"I love it and I love you and I'm so happy you asked me- I was going to ask you for a long time but obviously- I mean, you're braver than me and-"

Wally was interrupted by Elliot happily giggling in Wally's embrace. Elliot had never felt happier in his life. He felt happy and light and like every bad burden he'd felt for the past month had been lifted off his shoulders.

Elliot smiled.

[Welp. There ya go. Some happy. Also, I'm tired. Read and Review please!]


	14. Come Sail Away

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. This chapter is kind of everywhere and kind of messy, sorry.]

Wally swallowed thickly as he stood in the suffocating atmosphere of the school dance. Wally had always loved parties, he loved being around his friends, but he felt small and ill at his spot leaned against the wall.

Where was Elliot?

Wally tried his very hardest to level his breathing as he closed his eyes to the dancing figures in front of him. He lifted his cup to his lips shakily, praying that Elliot hadn't played some prank on him like Elliot had thought Wally had at the park what felt like years ago. His stupid suit felt humid and hot, and he just wanted to go home. The loud bump of the music playing hurt his ears, and he just wanted to find Elliot.

Breathe. Easy, one, two three. Breathe.

Wally felt like the noise was consuming him. Wally didn't understand, he'd never felt like this at a party before, and there wasn't anything different about this party than any of the numerous other's he'd been invited to. Not one thing was different, except…

Except now Elliot had officially stolen a large portion of Wally's heart, and Elliot wasn't here to console him or make him laugh or smile.

"Wally!" Elliot's voice suddenly called, breaking through everything. Almost immediately, it chased away the claustrophobia and the fear and the heat and pain, and it left only a nervously excited Elliot behind, staring up at Wally with beautiful red eyes and a soft smile.

"I've been looking for you everywhere you nerd, where've you been?" Elliot said amidst a chuckle, not noticing the relieved look on Wally's face.

"Just...hanging around." Wally said dismissively. Suddenly, the mood all around the dance completely changed. The previously playing emo pop band was switched off suddenly and replaced with an 80s rock sounding beat.

Wally looked down at Elliot, about to question him when he noticed how sheepish Elliot looked.

"I um, I've never actually been to a party or a dance before. I was hoping...maybe you'd saved a slow dance for me?" Elliot asked hopefully, not really knowing how to go about this. True, he'd be extremely disappointed if he'd bribed the DJ to play Come Sail Away by Styx for nothing, but he could always be going about this completely wrong.

All of Elliot's inhibitions were washed away when Wally chuckled at him and dragged him toward the dancing group of people by his hand.

"How'd you know this was my favorite 70s song?" Wally teased, making Elliot chuckle and blush some more.

"Lucky guess?" Elliot replied, for once not caring even one bit about the people staring and whispering and judging. All Elliot cared about in that moment was Wally.

The two danced for a while, the blinding lights and heat of the room meaning nothing to either of them, before Wally yawned and brought them both over to where they were previously.

"How about we ditch this place? I've got soda and snacks in my truck." Wally asked, laughing at Elliot rolling eyes.

"We've only been here for fifteen minutes. I'll go if you promise not to touch any alcohol." Elliot answered, gesturing with distaste toward the obviously drunken boy a little ways away from them and holding a sports bottle with hidden alcohol in it.

"If you haven't noticed yet, I'm not like those idiots." Wally replied, already leading Elliot out of the crowded room.

By the time the two had made it far enough from the building to not feel smothered anymore, Wally's beaten truck was parked just outside the park and the boys were lying in its bed, staring up at the street lights and the starry background behind them. The two were laughing over some joke Wally had told, both with orange soda gripped in their hands.

Wally looked over to Elliot who was still laughing, his hair frayed in different places from its previous clean cut state. His face was covered with a light blush, and his excuse for a suit was scuffed and ruffled in random places from discare.

"Isn't this better than a crowded gym?" Wally asked rhetorically, getting a chuckle and a punch in the arm as a reply.

Elliot looked up at the sky, and Wally followed his gaze for just a moment. Elliot used to feel small and meaningless amongst the thousands and thousands of stars in the sky. They were big and bright and burning with beauty, whereas Elliot was just a forgettable blip in human history. But that was when the only words Elliot ever took to heart were his father's. Now Elliot felt strong and confident. Elliot looked up at the stars and he was filled with hope. People thousands and thousands of miles away looked up at the same stars, and when Elliot finally found an escape from his home and moved somewhere miles away, he'd look up and still see the same stars.

Elliot ever so slowly moved his pinky over, followed by the feeling of his hand encompassing Wally's. Wally felt his heart speed up by at least ten, and smiled like a maniac, though he didn't dare look down to scare Elliot away.

Elliot slowly scooted over closer to Wally and wrapped their arms together, letting Elliot's head rest on Wally's shoulder. Elliot closed his eyes, extremely tired from so much socializing in one night.

"...Wally?"

"Mm?"

"...I think I love you."

"...Yeah, I love you too Elliot."

[I just...I watched Freaks and Geeks yesterday, okay? I miss that show, a lot. I miss army jacket fashion too.]


	15. Breakdown

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. I'm off early today! So of course, what to do with this time other than make you all suffer?!]

Raven didn't go to prom.

Raven didn't smile, Raven didn't laugh, and Raven didn't dance with her girlfriend like every other person did on prom night.

Raven cried, Raven mourned, and Raven prayed for the first time in eight years.

When Raven showed up to school the next day, she couldn't even dream of being in control of her emotions.

Raven only showed up at school because it was a distraction. Raven rarely took anything more seriously than her schoolwork. Ever since she was a child, Raven had loved reading and learning about new things, it was her favorite thing to do, so now she hoped on everything that it would keep her from breaking down in the middle of class.

Raven walked into the Band Hall first thing in the morning, early as always, and looked just a tad bit stranger than she normally did. Raven didn't like doing anything her mother told her, ever. They had opposing views on nearly everything, whether it be sexism, racism, homophobia, Arella Roth wasn't very open minded - she had the same mindset as most parents near the school. Arella constantly begged Raven to thoroughly brush her hair in the mornings, though Raven never listened. She thought it was pointless, her hair would only frizz and get messier by the end of the day anyway.

Raven walked into the Band Hall and her hair was straight as a board, brushed thoroughly and perfectly. Raven's makeup wasn't done nearly as dark or emphasized as normal, and she'd taken every single pin off of her backpack.

No one batted an eye, it was just a change in wardrobe. No one batted an eye except Raven's brother-like figure, her cousin, Elliot. Elliot bore into Raven from the moment she walked into the room, his smile dropped like a pebble into water. Raven slipped in between people to get to her seat as she normally did, and normally she would sit down and finish whatever book she had with her that day.

Today wasn't normal. Today wasn't normal because Elliot stopped Raven dead in her tracks. The pale boy stood right in the middle of Raven's path like an immovable wall, glaring fiercely into Raven's eyes as she glared back. Elliot's eyes softened, and he looked pleadingly at Raven. Raven barely lasted a moment before she broke into wailing and tears. Raven screamed with all the anguish and guilt and self hatred she'd felt in the past night.

Everyone in the Band Hall immediately stopped their yelling and talking as they circled over to see Elliot and Raven clasping onto each other like lifelines and collapsed onto the dirty floor. Elliot held Raven like she was still a child, running a hand through her hair and crying with her, trying so very hard to tell her it would be okay, even though he knew for a fact that it wouldn't.

Suddenly the bell rang shrill and loud, blocking out anyone from asking if Raven were okay or if they could help any. Mrs. Lance rushed everyone out onto the band field, announcing that Elliot and Raven were excused from practice today with a power in her voice that just _dared_ anyone to oppose the statement. Mrs. Lance didn't know a lot about Raven's home life, but she knew that Raven was strong and fierce, and that she never, ever cried.

When everyone had finally filed out of the dirty room, only Elliot and Raven were left in the middle of the room, sobbing together. There was such a mess around the room that circled them that it looked like Raven's anger and anguish had reflected itself onto the room.

"Sh-Sh-S-She-Sh-She-" Raven hiccuped, only to fall back into violent sobs into Elliot's chest.

Raven had never had a very agreeable mother - but at least Raven had a mother.

Arella Roth had been in intensive care for several months now. She'd had terrible bruises and broken bones from an abusive spouse. Raven felt helpless among all this, it was Arella's fault that she'd stayed with Raven's biological father for so long, so why should Raven had suffered by not having a real mother at home? Raven still always spent nights at the hospital, talking to her mother about her day before she fell asleep in the visitor's chair next to her mother's bedside.

Last night Arella Roth's heart rate monitor let out a long and haunting monotone beep, and it didn't stop until the doctor rushed in to take Arella's body away and unplug her monitor entirely.

Raven always said that she'd take to her grave that she couldn't stand being around her mother, but now all Raven wanted in the world to be cradled by Arella and told that everything was alright.

Raven didn't go down without a fight either. She clawed and kicked and bruised the doctors pulling her mother away from her with everything she had, screaming like a banshee that they were lying, that she was alright, that she'd promised she was alright.

Raven hadn't seen her mother's body since.

So now Raven and Elliot sat crying in each other's arms, mourning a dead aunt and mother.

Elliot mourned Arella more if not as much as Raven did. Arella was the one who offered him a home when his father beat him especially bad. Arella was the woman who bought him his very first ever sketchpad. Arella meant a lot to Elliot, almost as much as she did to Raven.

Raven didn't touch her hair for the rest of the day. Raven wiped away what little black lipstick she had on in the bathroom once she'd stopped crying. Raven didn't even look at the pins she'd take away from her backpack.

Raven hurt, and so did Elliot, and neither knew what to do anymore.

[You're welcome. Read and Review.]


	16. The Lost Lenore

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. Have some hurt/comfort with Raven. I couldn't just leave her on that note.]

Raven continued her personal process of mourning for several weeks with no interruption in the slightest. Raven dressed as her mother wished, Raven was barely even able to look at her schoolwork, and Raven died a little more inside each day that she passed what was her old home - she since had moved in with her and Elliot's aunt.

Raven wanted to die.

The raven haired girl barely even flinched when Angel sat down softly beside her in the park. The same park that Arella had taken Raven to feed ducks when she was much younger.

Angel said nothing, she left Raven alone in her silent world that she'd moved through for the past half month. Angel simply slowly laid her strangely unhappy head on Raven's fragile shoulder.

But Raven wasn't alone. Not anymore. Raven could feel herself slowly healing with the touch of someone she held so dear being there for her. Even if Raven didn't have Arella, she did have Angelina. Raven had Angelina, and Elliot, and Dick, and Joseph.

Raven forced herself to move from her stiff pose that she was boring into the lake with, leaning her head atop of Angel's and petting her white hair softly as if she were a stuffed animal.

"...I'm sorry." Angel said as softly and quietly as she could possibly muster, not daring to move.

"We both are." Elliot said suddenly behind the bench the two were sat at, laying a hand on Raven's other shoulder and appearing behind his cousin. While he scared the daylights out of poor Angel, Raven didn't even flinch.

Elliot slowly and quietly moved around the bench to sit on the ground in front of it, leaning on Raven's leg and the bottom half of the bench itself as he sighed sadly. Elliot thought he knew what Raven was going through to an extent, but he could never imagine the pain she felt.

"...You can't live like this forever you know. It's not healthy." Elliot commented, only getting a scruff scoff in reply and an ever emotionless face. Angel almost felt like she was intruding on a family moment, but her need to stay by Raven's side was much greater than her anxiety.

"...You will always have family Raven. We'll always be here for you, no matter how far you run or how reckless you act." Elliot continued, pleading that he wouldn't have to pull out his trump card. Raven didn't reply, only stared out on the lake toward a mother duck and her ducklings.

"...Would Arella have wanted it this way?" Elliot asked, finally getting something out of Raven. The purple haired girl let out a single tear from her left eye, not moving to wipe it away, her face slowly breaking down to one of sadness yet again.

"...Would Arella have told you she wanted you to live like this forever?" Elliot continued.

"...No." Raven whispered brokenly amongst a few more tears. Raven closed her eyes, not being able to bear the sight of Elliot looking up at Raven with that gaze that she knew would make her break down again.

It seemed that Elliot had shared Raven's location with all of Raven's loved ones, because Raven suddenly felt the all too familiar touch of Jericho wrapping his arms around her neck and resting his head on her shoulder from behind, encompassing her in a tight hug.

Raven could immediately tell it was Jericho, only one person practically radiated emotion at all time and had long enough blonde curls to make her brokenly laugh just a bit when they tickled her neck. From what Raven could tell, Jericho was crying a little bit too. He always was the most emotional out of all of them - always reaching out, always sympathizing.

Raven suddenly stood up, hiccuping slightly as she dragged Jericho by his arm to the front of the bench so Raven could wrap herself up in a very rare hug with all three of them.

Raven hurt, Raven wanted to die, Raven wanted to travel to hell simply for being related to her father.

But Raven also healed. Raven did as she always had done her entire life and she fought. She fought for her mother because she didn't have the energy to fight for herself anymore. Arella had always gone on and on about how Raven would make a difference in the world, and Raven fought back her desires to die in order to make sure her mother's death wasn't in vain.

When Raven had finally recovered from her trance of brokenness and she'd already sent Elliot, Jericho, and Angel home, she walked down the sidewalk of the park with a broken smile.

Raven held out a purple flower she'd picked as she traveled into a desolate area not far from the park and laid it on some crumpled dirt.

Raven smiled at the tombstone that had Arella's name engraved in beautifully, and she let out a final tear and a sniffle before she headed back home to her aunt.

[I wish I could've made this longer, sorry. I PROMISE this will get happier soon! Also, the next chapter will be kinda sad-ish, kinda very gay. Look out for new characters in the next chapter. Read and Review please!]


	17. A Long Lived Facade

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. I, and what I feel like a lot of my readers, might be able to relate a lot to this chapter by at least one of these characters. I know I went through a hard time like this, though not exactly to such a strong extent.]

"...I don't understand…"

"...Neither do I."

Billy was being comforted in the break area of the school after a considerably bad breakup between him and his girlfriend for the past year - Kitten. Sure, Kitten and Billy were an unexpected, strange couple, but they lasted a while and they both enjoyed each other's company.

Billy didn't know what to make of anything anymore. He felt like he'd been hit with a bucket filled with ice water and simply left to dry as if she never once had any real connection with him. Of course she did, Kitten and Billy had been friends since elementary, they told each other everything. But Billy just didn't understand what he'd done so wrong.

"I wish I knew what to tell you, but I don't. There's a reason I have a boyfriend." Elliot said to Billy jokingly, trying to cheer his friend up only for Billy to sigh and lay his head on the table.

Billy didn't understand.

Sure, Kitten had her mood swings every now and then, but nothing like this. She broke up with him, but she seemed uneasy about it. She seemed scared, and lost, and afraid. Above everything - although Billy was hurt - Kitten was still Billy's good friend, and he just wanted to know what was wrong with her.

Billy remembered when they were kids, when Kitten would sneak over to his house and play in the mud because her mother and father told her that good girls weren't allowed to play dirty. She was always loud and mean in the best way, and her mother and father would always blame Billy. Billy didn't mind, his family happened to blame a lot on him.

Kitten used to regularly go to the park with Billy, too. They'd play on the swings together. Kitten was different back then.

Billy remembered how once Kitten's father and Billy's father had come to the park with the rowdy kids, and the two adults were talking about future plans and whatnot - always trying to out do each other in terms of what their child had accomplished at such a young age. Billy told Kitten that he was going to go buy a soda from the vending machine across the park. Kitten acknowledged him, and just before Billy left he faintly heard Kitten's father talking about Kitten marrying some rich and respected man so that she wouldn't have to work a day in her life or do anything too extravagant. Billy saw how Kitten looked curiously perplexed at this notion, and saw how she went up to her father - her clothes still covered in mud and dirt - and told him something quietly yet openly.

When Billy returned Kitten was quietly sniffling and holding her red cheek as her father dragged her off toward their fancy car.

Kitten changed a bit after that. After that, when Kitten went out in public she acted snobby and mean in the bad way, and she wore fancy pink designer clothes and she shrieked when she got dirty or Billy suggested they sneak out. Kitten was still the same in secret though. When she got home from wherever her parents had taken her she'd change back into her dirty clothes and go play with Billy, laughing and being loud and mean in the great way.

But then Kitten changed again. This time Kitten changed when she and Billy were enrolled in their very first year of school - in kindergarten. Now Kitten was mean and snobby and wore designer clothes all the time. She wouldn't make friends, and she was mean and manipulative to everyone around her. She would make fun of everyone all the time. Kitten even started completely ignoring what little school work she had to put on makeup in the middle of class - something a normal kindergartener wouldn't even think about.

When Kitten was enrolled in middle school she learned how to blackmail. Kitten snuck in the shadows and made everyone fear her name. She was meaner, ruder, and snobbier. She yelled and went off her head whenever someone dared to disrupt her or oppose her, and she was a literal queen bee.

But she was still Billy's best friend. Kitten would still silently laugh when he did something dumb, she would still smile at him when she got off the bus every morning, and she would still sit with him at lunch - not daring to blackmail him.

After a brief intervention in middle school, Kitten became nicer. She still hung out with all the snobby popular girls, but now she was much more open to sitting with Billy and his nerd friends, and she wasn't openly mean to everyone all the time.

Kitten was still Kitten on the inside. She still liked Mortal Combat, she still knew every line from Star Wars, and she still loved dogs. Just not around people, not around parents, and at times, not around herself.

But then Kitten broke up with Billy.

Kitten broke up with Billy and Kitten looked like a terrified little girl.

But that wasn't Kitten. Kitten was the strongest girl Billy had ever met in his life.

So what was going on?

Not far from where Billy sat, Kitten sat alone under the bleachers, letting her perfectly done makeup run freely down her face as she looked at herself in her compact mirror.

This wasn't her.

This was who she was supposed to be.

Kitten broke up with Billy because Billy, to an extent, was apart of the big lie that was Kitten, the rich daughter of the high school.

Kitten did love pink things. She liked soft pink clothes and colored skinny jeans and compact mirrors, but she also loved her mechanics class. She also loved gardening, and she also loved…

Kitten loved something that she wasn't supposed to ever love, and she hated herself for her own feelings every single night that she went to bed.

Kitten still remembered when she was a child, the very first time that her father had harshly punished her by slapping her across the face and dragging her into the car.

Her father had been talking about how he wanted his daughter to marry a man that was rich and wealthy, and for Kitten to not lift a finger for the rest of her life.

"But Daddy, I don't want to marry someone rich. I want to do something big and cool and build things or maybe be a fashion designer or maybe an astronaut or maybe a tyrant. I want to marry a pretty girl like Mama with pretty eyes and a pretty smile and-"

Slap.

Kitten was nearly thrown back with the force her father had used to break all of her childish dreams in his hands.

Kitten's father said nothing. He dragged her back to the car by her braided pigtail and drove in silence.

When Kitten got home her father was furious. He explained to Kitten in a very detailed way of how she was an abomination, and that God wanted her to be dead. He told her that when she died, she was going to burn in hell for being what she was.

Ever since then Kitten had played a charade like her life depended on it.

Kitten made sure everyone knew that she was the straightest, meanest girl in the school. She was a proper young lady that would marry a man and not have any sins linked to her at all.

Kitten tried to shut away her feelings, but she couldn't.

Her first step was dating Billy. Billy was a boy, not a girl. It wasn't that hard, Billy was Kitten's best friend. In the long time that they were dating they didn't once kiss or do anything romantic, and Billy didn't seem to notice all that much. Even though Kitten was dating a boy, she still liked girls. She had a terrible crush on Jinx all throughout ninth grade, and she wanted to kill herself for it.

She was an abomination, she belonged in hell.

But she wasn't allowed to die according to her father, because she was the heiress to his company.

Kitten broke up with Billy because she couldn't just lead him on anymore. Billy was Kitten's friend, and she didn't want to hurt him. She especially didn't want him to find out about just how sinful she was.

A lot had changed in Kitten since she was a child, but one thing always taunted her by remaining the same.

Kitten couldn't ever love a boy, that's not who she was. Kitten loved girls, Kitten knew it was wrong and evil, but she wanted to marry a beautiful woman with a beautiful smile and be proud of it.

But she couldn't, because she was an abomination.

Kitten couldn't help it. Kitten was an abomination, a monster. Kitten was a queer, a faggot, a devil...Kitten was a lesbian.

[There you have it! The one story that almost every LGBT+ person goes through at least once in their life! Read and Review.]


	18. Crush

[I do not own Teen Titans or any characters mentioned in this story. Some happy to even out previous chapters. Take this.]

Pep Rally days were always fun, even if you didn't actually care about the football games. All of the classes were cut short by at least fifteen minutes in order to make room for a whole hour at the end of the day where students just screamed and yelled and did stupid things to hype themselves and the football players of the school. Once, about two years ago, the Freshman section of the Pep Rally threw condoms as confetti - because of all of the noise and commotion, no one could really stop them.

Everyone was standing in the bleachers screaming and laughing, but Billy was sitting by himself in the corner with one of the gym's pillars being used as a wall to lean on. Billy looked out at all the cheerleaders and the dancers doing tricks, and he couldn't bring himself to smile. Kitten usually spent Pep Rallies with him. She'd sit in the row just behind where the band normally was and she'd cheer them all on even though she hadn't a clue who they were playing against normally. The Band had been allowed to sit this Pep Rally out, but Billy couldn't share in the relief the flooded through the marching band.

Billy had more important things on his mind.

Suddenly, the three guys that were next to Billy who had been standing and yelling with the crowd scrambled to get away from where they were, running in the opposite direction until they made it to the Sophomore side. Billy stared at them, perplexed, before the beast that scared them off made herself apparent by crossing over into Billy's line of sight and sitting down stiffly next to him.

Billy sat there and stared at Kitten like she'd grown two heads as Kitten stiffly stared out onto the gym.

Billy sighed tiredly, convinced that she was merely going to continue doing what she normally did. She would sit there and pretend nothing was wrong, leaving Billy to worry even more. Just as Billy got up to find another place to sit, Kitten broke her facade and stopped him.

"Billy! ...Please, stay." Kitten said with begging in her eyes. Billy sighed again, resigned to staying.

"You gonna tell me what's wrong?" Billy asked as Kitten looked down at her designer sandals shamefully. Billy got nothing in response, only shame radiating off of his dear friend. Billy sighed again, only stopped by the soft sound of whimpering from Kitten.

"Kit?"

"William...promise me, promise me that no matter what, you won't ever hate me." Kitten begged with watery eyes as she looked over at Billy. She'd trained herself to do this a long time ago, to be able to cry without letting any tears fall. She only _really_ cried when she wanted to now.

"Kit, I don't think I could ever hate you. You're my best friend, remember?" Billy chuckled, laying a hand on her shoulder and attempting to cheer her up, more than relieved that she was finally opening up to him.

"I'm gay, Will."

"I know."

Kitten looked up at him with the most flabbergasted expression she'd worn in her life. He knew? He _knew_? How was that possible? Why didn't he hate her? Why didn't he throw a bible at her and tell her she was going to burn in hell like her father?

"...Y-you _know_?! Wha-...I-..." Kitten shrieked, completely at a loss for words as she looked down at the ground in angry confusion.

"Kitty, you're my best friend. I _know_ you. You really, honestly think I haven't noticed you staring at certain girls for longer than a straight person would, or how you jump back whenever a guy tries to hit on you?" Billy asked rhetorically, slowly cheering Kitten up, but also confusing her further in the process.

"But then...why did you...why did you stay with me, knowing I didn't really love you?" Kitten demanded.

"Because _I_ love _you_ , Kit. Not in the romantic way, don't worry. I mean, at first I think I might've, but I mean...Kitty, you're like my little sister, you always will be. I care for you, and I realized what you were dating me for a while after we first started going out. I couldn't just expose you like that or leave you behind, I knew you were gonna break up with me one day. I knew that one day you'd be brave enough to show everyone what a force the _real_ Katherine Walker was, and I was willing to wait for you to find that day on your own." Billy explained, all the while with Kitten staring at him in awe. Kitten was once again speechless for a few moments, before she finally burst into a smile and hugged Billy around his neck.

"Thank you." She said quietly.

"Just glad you're finally out here with your real family." Billy said.

"Out here?" Kitten questioned finally pulling back and relaxing her posture.

"Out of the closet." Billy said with a shit eating grin as Kitten groaned and tried not to punch him in the arm.

"You're _terrible_ , William Strayer." Kitten said as Billy barked out a laugh. The two finally started paying attention to the dancers and the cheerleaders below, listening to the music playing to the left of them.

"So," Billy began, very much interested in Kitten's answer to his next question.

"Who is it?" Billy asked with a teasing voice and wiggling eyebrows.

"Excuse me?"

"Who d'you got a crush on, ya barbie doll?" Billy asked as if it were plain as day.

"Wha- I- Billy I can't believe you would- that's absolutely- I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON ANYBODY!" Kitten stuttered and spewed before she poutily started glaring at the dancers below her.

Billy was about to say something else to embarrass her further, but noticed how her gaze softened and got more serious as she gazed at a _particular_ dancer on the dance team. She sighed sadly as she stared down at her flexible figure and her dazzling smile. Billy himself had to keep from screaming as he mouth a 'holy shit' to himself.

"I don't know Kitty." Billy said as he moved over to just behind Kitten's shoulder to look at who Kitten was looking at.

"I wouldn't call Blackfire a nobody." Billy said with another shit eating grin.

"Shut up you hillbilly." Kitten grumbled as she punched him in the arm.

Kitten couldn't help it, Blackfire was like her but better. Blackfire also hid under a build up facade, and Kitten had been witness to the real Blackfire a few months ago when she found _The_ Koma Anders crying her eyes out in the girls' bathroom.

Blackfire was really funny, and smart, and she had a beautiful smile. Her hair shone like trees you'd run through in a fairytale novel, and her eyes were always alert and mysterious. Blackfire was strong, and insecure, and intimidating all at the same time.

And as a bonus, Blackfire had the most beautiful smile Kitten had ever seen in her life.

[Idk, I feel like they'd bring out the better sides in each other. I also really like tiny femme Kitten smirking as her big buff Tamaranean girlfriend comes to beat up anyone who says something bad about her. Read and Review!]


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